During this music concert, tucked into my favorite back-row aisle seat, I’m carried away by these high schoolers’ earnest 1960s musical storytelling and wonder…

Sarah Cooper
Latest posts
Have We Done Enough?

In teaching, we’re in the very business of kids leaving us. Often we get them for one year –sometimes, if we’re lucky, for two…
Time to Plant Tears

Lately, the world has been opening up here in our corner of Los Angeles, and I’ve been crying, a lot. Tears have arrived at…
Seeking Sprawl

Lately I’ve come back to the same image when I fantasize about having every student back in the classroom, particularly the 8th graders I…
Remembering What Matters With Elie Wiesel

For the past 18 years, I’ve taught at secular schools with their own rich sets of values. But Ariel Burger’s Witness: Lessons from Elie…
Musical Madness for Four, or Fifty

This was a project of passion, not perfection — of journeying, not judging — just as it had been for the past six months,…
From Couch to 5K, For Real

This is a story a story about coaching, mentoring, and teaching —about how our seemingly small comments and actions can accrue to become something…
Elton John’s Hidden Curriculum

On the windowsill in my office, a large Ficus trees defies the odds, stretching its glossy leaves towards the window. It is a vestige…