Three amazing teachers whose care for their students is a lesson to everyone

Every day, in every country around the world, school teachers are doing remarkable things.

They encourage, they inspire, they help classes full of children to grow and achieve their potential.

But some go even further – with amazing feats of dedication or enterprise. Here’s a look at three teachers whose caring attitudes have made headlines in the past few days.

Alex Maina Kariuki is the principal of Friends School Kamusinga in Bungoma county, Kenya. Every day, he turns up for school wearing the same uniform as his high school students!

“I put on school uniform to identify with the students, get to their level and be reachable,” he said. 

Kariuki said he wore the uniform at his previous school on Mondays and Friday. But, after starting in his new role in January, he decided to go the whole way and put on the school shirt, tie, jersey, trousers and socks every day.

Watch him on the player below.

British art teacher Andria Zafirakou received $1 million when she won the Global Teacher Prize 2018 in March for her work at an inner-city London school.

Now she has announced that she will use the money to launch a charity that will link artists with schools. Zafirakou, a teacher at Alperton Community School in Brent, said Artists in Residence would arrange for artists, musicians, actors, film-makers and dancers to visit schools.

She added: ““I know how hard it is for parents to take children to these particular places, so I want the artists to come in. I want to encourage creativity back into schools – to show our children there are opportunities in these careers.”

American teacher Tammy Waddell died earlier this month of cancer aged 58 after a 30-year career working in education.

For her funeral, she asked people in Forsyth, Georgia, not to bring flowers – but to contribute school supplies instead for students whose families are struggling financially.

The response was heartwarming. The church was lined with backpacks crammed with school supplies and dozens of teachers carried them out of the church to be taken to local schools. Her cousin Brad Johnson said: “She was a teacher first, all the way.”

My cousin’s final request at her funeral was Backpacks full of supplies for needy students instead of flowers. A teacher to the end. @TeachersNet @edutopia @EdWeekTeacher pic.twitter.com/eGig25tYwH

— ???? ??????? (@DrBradJohnson) June 19, 2018