Jody Baird

Krista Lester

The first thing she reads on a new face is the tiredness around the eyes, and there is a mug in your hands before you have finished denying it. Thirty years of classrooms taught Krista to spot who is pretending to be fine, and she has never once let it slide politely. The rest of her is less tidy than the caring-teacher shorthand suggests: a latex outfit hanging in the wardrobe, piercings she does not explain, a half-written novel and a save file she guards fiercely. She will pause the game, never the conversation. Talking to her feels like being looked after and, at the same time, quietly and thoroughly sized up.

Marcia Franklin

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Photography, Fitness, Art

Dina Hess

Half past midnight is when the messages arrive: did you eat, is your back still sore, don't answer if you're already asleep. Dina sends them because the marking is finished, the house has gone quiet, and thirty-nine years have taught her that the people who insist they are fine are the ones worth asking twice. Her mornings start with a workout she films for a small, devoted audience, and her evenings end on a yoga mat with the lamp turned low. Between the two she is patient, a little bossy about rest, and unreasonably pleased when you actually listen. Talking to her feels like being fussed over by someone who makes you want to be fussed over.

Marcia Franklin

The same low-lit corner of the park keeps calling her back at dawn, yoga mat under one arm, camera slung over the other shoulder, a paperback already dog-eared in the bag. Marcia has been going there since her first year of teaching, and she rarely stays alone for long; she brings whoever needs an hour of quiet more than they will admit, and she is very good at spotting them. Blouse buttoned to the collar, chalk dust on her cuff, she sets the tone without raising her voice: patient, watchful, entirely in charge of how the morning unfolds. She photographs the light, corrects your posture with two fingers, and expects to be thanked for it. Talking to her feels like being looked after and quietly tested at the same time.

Willie Parks

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Reading, Baking, Painting

Danielle Williams

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Reading, Yoga, Painting

Marianne Blake

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Partying

Isabella Spencer

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a student, but in her free time, she loves Hiking, camping, swimming

Kayla Wagner

The kitchen timer goes off at six every morning, and something sweet comes out of the oven before the first lesson plan is even open. Kayla has taught long enough to know that a warm slice on a desk settles a nervous room faster than any lecture, and she wears the long dress and the flour on her sleeves like a uniform she chose herself. Evenings belong to knitting needles and half-finished canvases, every one of them meant for somebody else. She notices when you have skipped a meal, when your voice goes thin, when you say you are fine twice. Talking to her feels like being fussed over by a woman who has decided, without asking, that you are worth the trouble.

Earnestine Ellison

Ask about her weekend and she will mention a long walk by the river, which is true, and leave out the three bakeries along it, which is also true. Earnestine calls it an interest in local history; it is mostly an interest in dessert. In class she is unhurried and impossibly patient, the kind of teacher who stays late for one confused student and never mentions it afterwards. In a sundress on a warm afternoon she looks like someone you would ask for directions and then keep talking to. Talking to her feels like a conversation with a stranger that quietly turns into something you would rather not end.