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From YouTube: Then & Now – Iris Crankfield
Description
After a negative experience in one of her high school classes, Iris Crankfield turned to the support of her principal and other teachers to share her ideas and help change the culture of her school. This experience fueled a passion for writing and teaching that has allowed her to inspire a new generations of change makers. Now, as an English teacher at South River High School, Iris helps her students see that they, too, have a voice and it deserves to be heard.
A
A
Realized
I
wanted
to
be
a
teacher
in
the
10th
grade.
I
had
a
teacher
who
did
an
entire
lesson
on
how
slavery
was
necessary
in
the
United
States
and
I
could
not
understand
why.
That
was
the
focus
of
the
lesson.
I
spoke
with
the
principal
and
I
spoke
with
the
teacher.
He
apologized
I
think
it's
really
easy.
You
know
in
life
to
focus
on
the
negative
experiences
and
it's
usually
one
negative
experience
to
countless
positive
experiences.
A
I
was
able
to
use
that
to
grow
and
to
be
better
motivated
me
and
that
motivation
was
supported
by
many
other
teachers
on
principle,
regardless
of
whether
I
was
a
student
or
a
teacher.
My
principles
have
always
supported
me.
Following
year,
I
spoke
with
my
principal
about
it
again
and
we
didn't
do
anything
for
Black
History
Month
at
my
school
at
that
time,
and
he
said
well,
you
know.
If
you
come
up
with
something
I
was
poor
too.
You
can
do
what
you'd
like
to
do.
A
I
have
written
a
play,
but
we
perform
the
play
for
the
entire
school
was
really
exciting,
and
you
know
I
had
friends
that
were
in
it
and
everybody
got
to
see
it
and
from
that
moment
I
decided
well,
I
want
to
be
a
writer,
I,
think
I'll
be
a
teacher
of
English
and
that
way
I
can
combine
history
and
English.
At
the
same
time,
also,
at
that
time,
I
had
an
assistant
principal
mr.
Trotter,
who
was
working
with
the
local
magazine
in
Annapolis,
called
the
ebony
spectrum.
A
He
got
me
on
board
with
them,
and
I
wrote
a
few
articles
for
them
as
well,
once
I
started
to
find
my
past
writing.
My
favorite
part
of
teaching
today
is
really
saying
the
growth
of
my
students
to
motivate
them.
As
long
as
you
really
put
all
of
your
effort
into
what
you
want
to
achieve,
you
can
really
pretty
much
do
anything
you
want
to
do
if
you're
willing
to
work
hard
to
do
it
so
I
hope
that
each
day
they
leave
and
inspiring
and
passion
to
do
something
great
or
to
help
someone
else.
A
It's
really
tough,
especially
now
that
students
are
exposed
to
a
lot
more
than
you
know
what
I
was
exposed
to
as
a
student
and
social
media
and
Internet
have
become
very
strong
voices
in
their
lives.
So
it's
very
important
as
a
teacher
to
try
to
walk
the
middle
line
and
to
get
them
to
form
educated
opinions
and
to
have
opinions
that
they're
willing
to
research
and
to
support
and
to
share
in
a
way
that
evokes
positive
change.
It.
B
Was
different
from
other
classes
because
it
was
really
fun.
It
was
also
just
like
really
easy
to
talk
to.
Mr.
Krank
feel
that
good
matter
what
it
was
about,
and
even
if
you
had
a
question
and
she
was
teaching
something
who'd
just
raise
your
hand
and
ask
a
question-
she
would
answer
it.
You
could
have
a
discussion
about
it.
Even
if
you
had
to
come
after
class.
She
was
always
available
to
talk
to
you,
so
that
was
really
cool.
The.
A
Relationships
are
really
important
part
of
our
mantra
here.
Our
mission
this
year
at
South
Weber,
is
to
build
relationships
with
our
students.
They
know
that
I'm
coming
from
a
place
where
I
want
them
to
be
successful
and
I'm
teaching
you
this
because
I
know
this
is
what
it
takes
in
order
to
get
you
to
where
you
want
to
be.
They
know
that
I
care
about
their
growth
and
I
care
about
their
success.
Beyond
my
classroom,
she.
B
Was
just
like
it's
so
easy
to
talk
to
no
matter
what
it
was
about
and
it's
kind
of
cliche,
but
it's
like
she's.
Also
a
friend
like
not
just
a
teacher,
we
actually,
we
were
like
requesting
books
to
each
other
and
telling
each
other
books
three,
which
I
thought
was
really
cool.
She
was
just
super
genuine.
They.
B
Of
all
asked
her
for
a
letter
of
recommendation,
which
is
really
great
to
have
a
teacher.
That
knows
you
really
well
and
then
I
also
wrote
my
common
FSA
and
she
looked
over
that
for
me
and
that
was
really
cool,
because
I
talked
about
personal
stuff
that
she
probably
didn't
know
just
like
about
my
passions
and
dreams
for
the
future.
She
really
helped
me
she
like,
edited
it
and
looked
over
it.
That
was
really
helpful.
So
that's
really
cool
to
have
a
teacher.
You
can
do
that
being.
A
A
Sadly,
we
have
many
problems,
I
feel
in
the
world
that
exists
that
need
to
be
solved
and
I
have
many
students
that
are
passionate
about
solving
them,
but
to
see
their
passion
just
motivates
and
inspires
me
that
you
know
they
will
solve
some
of
the
problems
in
the
world
that
you
have
and
that
their
passion
will
really
take
them
far,
and
you
know
again,
if
they
trust
me
enough
to
know
that
I
would
support
them
in
their
quests
really
exciting.
Some
exciting
time
to
be
a
teacher.