by Holly Holbert (Author), Bruce Holbert (Author)
What do rock stars, Nobel laureates, bestselling novelists, astronauts, and attorneys have in common? A teacher changed their lives. Like them, most of us can name a teacher who gave us not only good instruction but also confidence and drive. But, in the face of teachers being blamed for a variety of social and economic woes, teachers themselves can easily wonder whether they are making a difference in students' lives. When veteran teacher Bruce Holbert asked himself this question, his wife, Holly, responded by sending letters to hundreds of people she had never met and had no reason to believe would respond, asking about teachers who mattered to them. She was overwhelmed by answers. Thank You, Teacher presents more than eighty of these up-close-and-personal stories. By a delightfully diverse range of contributors, these essays are wise and witty testaments to the teachers who do what they do every day without expecting recognition, but who so richly deserve it.
Author Biography
Bruce Holbert earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he held a Teaching Writing Fellowship. His second novel, The Hour of Lead, was a Kirkus Best Book for 2014 and won the 2015 Washington State Book Award for fiction. Bruce has worked for thirty years as a high school teacher.
Holly Holbert graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in geography and elementary education. She and Bruce met there and were married in 1985. They have three children and live on six acres overlooking Long Lake on the Spokane River.