Almost every student has been assigned to write a personal essay at some point in their schooling. At the 2024 Tales from the Classroom event, it was the educators—not the students—tasked with writing a story about their teaching experience.

In the Lincoln School auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 5 p.m., the 2024 Metzger Fellows reflected on their experiences as Brookline educators. The fellowship was established in 2014 by the Brookline Education Foundation in honor of Margaret Metzger, an English teacher who taught at the high school for 40 years. Over the summer, the six fellows crafted their pieces during a week-long workshop with English curriculum coordinator John Andrews. The stories revealed both the hardships and fulfillments that come with teaching.

The first speaker was Ridley 2nd grade teacher Daniel Lipton. He weaved singing into his speech to emphasize the power that music holds in helping his students through difficult world events like 9/11 and October 7th. Lipton said that he has known about the Tales from the Classroom event for years, and being a part of it was a powerful experience.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself as a writer, and it’s been great collaborating with other teachers and learning about their journeys as well,” Lipton said.

Driscoll 4th grade teacher Lily Glickstein told a story about a particularly difficult student she had in her first year of teaching. She reflected on what she could have done differently and revealed how she was able to improve with another hard student five years later. A friend of Glickstein and school counselor in training, Kate Deming, said she was impressed by the level of honesty the teachers displayed.

“I just found it really inspiring the way they talked about teaching kids and how hard it is but how meaningful it is. And that’s how I feel about it too,” Deming said. “I think I’ll also take away that sometimes you feel like you failed, but that doesn’t mean you should stop.”

As a special educator at the high school, Matt DeGrace learned a similar lesson when dealing with a difficult student. He said that by asking the student about her own needs, he could help her become a partner in her education, rather than a student actively fighting against classroom policies.

“Her request to use an empty classroom next door to work by herself would have previously raised alarm bells about her trying to avoid teacher oversight, was now seen as a student who knew she got easily distracted and benefitted from a quiet space,” DeGrace said.

Another speaker, Lawrence math specialist Katy McGraw, drew parallels between her brother and a student of hers who thought differently from his classmates. McGraw said she worried that students like them get left behind in the school system.

“Which is really more important to a child’s future? Cultivating their love of pursuing knowledge, their identity and agency as learners? Or cramming standards into their growing minds?” McGraw said.

Brookline Education Foundation board member Jessica Flaherty said she works to support these educators and admires their resilience.

“Even though they have difficult days and difficult times with different students, it’s helped them evolve and grow as educators,” Flaherty said, “and that it just reinforces the beautiful humans that we have in Brookline who support our children and help them grow.”