August 26-27, 2023: Cville Places: The Public Schools

[For this year’s installment of my annual Charlottesville series—following the boys and my annual trip to my childhood home, natch—I’ve focused on a handful of representative places around town. Leading up to this tribute to the public schools that nurtured this AmericanStudier!]

First, here are some of the many prior posts in which I’ve paid tribute to my amazing Charlottesville public school teachers:

These multiple posts on my single favorite teacher (and without question the most evocatively and pitch-perfectly named), Proal Heartwell;

This one on the iconic figure who taught me to swim in the public schools, William Byers;

This one on an 8^th grade English teacher and a high school Math teacher who both helped me become the teacher I am today;

And this one on a bunch of other inspiring Cville public schools teachers with whom I was fortunate enough to work along the way .

In that last hyperlinked post, I wrote about attacks on public schools and especially public school teachers. That was from 2011, and let’s just say that the attacks have not exactly decreased in the 12 years since. There are lots of ways to resist and challenge those attacks, but I believe one of the strongest is for those of us who are the products of public schools, who work in public schools, whose children attend public schools, who are supporters of and advocates for public schools in every way to raise our voices, share our stories, express our eternal gratitude to what these spaces have meant to and for us. So I knew I couldn’t conclude a series on Cville places without saying clearly and proudly that I love the Charlottesville public schools!

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Defining places—from your hometowns or anywhere else—you’d highlight?