Ploymint

Take a moment to think about the teacher or professor who had the most impact in your life. To the aspiring millennial teachers reading this: who is that teacher who made you realize shaping young minds is your truth?

Here are 3 movie educators to inspire millennial teachers. They have different styles, but their uniting characteristic is their passion for what they’re teaching and a genuine care for their students.

Mr. Keating- Dead Poet’s Society

Mr. Keating (played by Robin Williams) gets a job teaching poetry at a stuffy and prestigious all-boys prep school, which he also attended as a boy.

His teaching methods are unorthodox to say the least, but the way he teaches poetry is amazing. He uses poetry to inspire his students to embrace their feelings. He instills the confidence in his students they need to embrace their inner truth regardless of what anyone else thinks.

It took me 25 years to understand why every English teacher I had in high school showed this movie. They showed it for themselves. To remind themselves of their duty to inspire their students to become extraordinary.

Dewey Finn- School of Rock

Dewey Finn, played by Jack Black, isn’t even a teacher by trade. He is a failing rock musician who pretends to be his roommate in order to land a substitute teaching job at a private primary school. His motives for doing this are entirely selfish. He just wants the gig to earn money, and then teaches the kids rock and roll because he needs a new group for a battle of the bands competition.

With that being said, he is a perfect example of everything a music teacher should be. He gave a bigger girl with an amazing voice the confidence necessary to be a backup singer on stage. He gives another boy the courage to play rock and roll music on guitar, even though his father doesn’t approve.

Louanne Johnson- Dangerous Minds

This final movie is based on the true story of Louanne Johnson, a teacher who touched the lives of the inner-city youth in Belmont, California. I went to a high school exactly like the high school in the movie. My graduating class was 660…and that’s at an abysmal 60% graduation rate. Dozens of kids each year dropped out to pursue a career as a drug dealer or gang member. Three separate times throughout my high school career I had days where I showed up to school and found out one of my peers were killed.

I had the opportunity to see teachers like Louanne in action. They make the choice to focus all of their energies on the kids some teachers see as “lost causes”. More importantly, I’ve seen success stories. I know kids who grew up in Newburgh’s worst neighborhoods who now have college degrees because a Louanne came along during their educational career and cared enough to make an impact.

When I first went to college my major was English Education. Halfway through my junior year I panicked because I felt I didn’t want to be a teacher. The reality was I didn’t want to be a teacher right at that moment.

Writing this article and reconnecting with these 3 brilliant movie educators made realize teaching is my truth. It may not be in the school system. It might be 5,10, or 20 years from now. But there will be a day where I’m shaping the next generation’s brightest minds. I hope to, like Mr.Keating, use the beauty of the English language as a vehicle to spark the wild dreams that set a young mind ablaze with wonder.