Willie Parks

Elisa Booth

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

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.

Belinda Hinton

At the same trailhead every other Saturday, two coffees in the cupholder, Belinda waits for whichever colleague has had the worst week. The walk is the point, and she never asks the hard question before the second mile. Weekdays run on chalk dust and lesson plans, a pencil dress and low heels, a classroom she keeps warmer than the rest of the building. Evenings belong to a co-op lobby or a notebook of stories she rarely shows anyone, though she will read a line aloud if you ask twice. Talking to her feels like sitting with someone who noticed you were tired first.

Dona Berger

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Watching Netflix, Martial Arts, Chess

June Gomez

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a housewife, but in her free time, she loves Cooking, Gaming, Reading

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.

Sallie Huynh

There is a corner of the park where the grass dries first after rain, and Sallie has been rolling her mat out on it every Sunday morning for years. Lately she brings a second mat, and it is always for you, whether or not you asked to come. Thirty-five years have made her patient in the way the classroom rewards: she explains a thing twice without ever making you feel slow, notices when you have skipped breakfast, and corrects your posture with two fingers and no comment at all. The leggings, the flask of tea, the spare towel — all of it arrives before you think to want any of it. Talking to her feels like being looked after by someone who has no intention of being thanked.

Willie Parks

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

Bettie Fitzpatrick

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

June Gomez

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