“Teaching Junior High is a careful balancing act. I spend a lot of time building students up, one positive reinforcement at a time, like a carefully constructed pyramid. I try to layer in resilience and empathy while instilling creativity and ambition and a passion to learn. Some students are able to balance their own pyramid and add pieces to it themselves. Others need support to maintain it and still others start over from the ground up each day. Some days that pyramid gets tipped over. Some days are tough. Some days they cry. And some days, I cry for them.“