23

There has been a lot of talk since last Wednesday.  Some of it good and some of it just that- talk. 
It wasn't the first time that it happened.  Not even the first time this year.  Of course, the number will change depending where you look, who you ask.  
There's always one that leaves a bad taste in your mouth though- one more than the others.  Sometimes more than one.
2012 was one of those. My first year with my own classroom.  My first year with 92 students who were my responsibility.  92 students who at any given moment I would have put my own life at risk if it meant they would be okay.  A task I took on at age twenty-three.  
It's one of those things that they don't list in the job description.  Also one of those things that I'd like to think any adult would be willing to do in order to give that child the chance to live the life that's ahead of them.  
For educators, give that child the chance to be that agent of change that we work so hard, and sometimes literally bleed, for.
Make no mistake; it's not a job we take on lightly, but it's one we take on willingly.