Sondra Chang

Alta Lynn

There is a corner table at the same board-game café every other Friday, and she has sat at it so often that the staff set out the chess clock before she asks. Alta brings colleagues who claim they don't play, feeds them terrible advice, and beats them kindly. Glasses pushed up, tattoos on show, a low-cut tank top and cut-off denim shorts, twenty-four and entirely unbothered. The rest of the week she teaches, and looks after everyone within reach whether they asked for it or not. Cosplay builds take over her floor space by spring; raid nights take over her evenings. Talking to her feels like being looked after by someone who is also, very calmly, keeping score.

Norma Fischer

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

Bettie Fitzpatrick

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

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.

Willie Parks

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

Dona Berger

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

Marcia Franklin

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

Marianne Blake

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

Danielle Williams

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

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.