Barbara Dalio, Founder and Director of Dalio Education, today announced that “Teachers of Connecticut,” an online platform launched in August dedicated to amplifying the voices of teachers across the state, is now open to “any PreK-12 public school teacher in Connecticut as well as anyone who has a story about a Connecticut teacher they’d like to share.” The idea for the platform came from teachers themselves, inspired by a series of conversations convened by Dalio this past spring.
“People have responded to this platform with so much enthusiasm, we thought it’d be a great idea to open it up to any public school teacher in Connecticut,” said Dalio. “Everyone I know – myself included – has at least a few teachers, if not more, that they remember as being key adult figures in their lives.” For me, it was a high school teacher who gave me the love of reading and opened up a whole world.”
New teacher stories are being published each week at www.teachersofconnecticut.org and shared through social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The teachers featured as part of the platform’s launch were recommended by an Advisory Group of teachers and civic leaders. Through the platform’s new “Share Your Story” feature, any PreK-12 public teacher in Connecticut can now share their own story directly and anyone else can share a story about an inspiring Connecticut teacher too. Submitted stories will be shared via the platform’s social media channels and some teachers will also be profiled in further depth on the platform itself.
“As much as social media can be a problem, this is the good side of social media: bringing people together from all walks of life to share stories that uplift and inspire – in this case, stories about how teachers are making positive, lasting impacts on the lives of young people,” said Sheena Graham, a teacher in the Bridgeport Public Schools who serves on the Advisory Group for the platform. “Right after the first teacher story aired on the local news I got calls and emails from friends asking me if they could share some of their stories about teachers who impacted their lives. Now they can. And that’s how we came up with the idea to call it ‘share your story’.”
“I love the idea of teachers being able to spotlight other teachers,” said Joshua Hall, a teacher in the Hartford Public Schools who also serves on the platform’s Advisory Group. “No one more than a teacher understands what other teachers’ lives are like. We’re like family: we work together, we help each other, we compare notes, we basically share everything – good and bad. This is a great opportunity for teachers to support and applaud each other.”
“I think what I like most about this initiative – in addition to the fact that the idea for it came from teachers – is that it’s such a wonderful source of positivity and inspiration. Hearing teachers telling their stories in their own words is so powerful,” said Dalio. “And now everyone can participate by sharing a teacher story.”