Dear Teacher,

When I started my teaching career over twenty years ago, my sister gave me a book by Parker Palmer called The Courage to Teach. Palmer says, “we teach who we are.” In other words, we bring our full selves to the classroom.

Who are you? I am a white, Southern woman, a mother, a daughter, a survivor and witness of family addiction and mental illness, a lover of literature, a poet, an avid learner, a former church-goer turned humble yoga practitioner, an English teacher turned school leader.

We teach who we are—all of it. The times that have been hardest for me as an educator are when I am out of touch with my purpose for teaching, disconnected from my students, my identity, my love of my content area, and my vision for equity.

I founded The Teacher Sanctuary as a community of learners for us as teachers to '“live in the layers” as Stanley Kunitz writes. It is so easy as a teacher and a leader to get bogged down in the technical details and requirements of teaching and forget the layered depth of the “why” that keeps us rooted, grounded, connected.

So, I invite you to join me on a retreat at The Teacher Sanctuary. Experience the joy and healing of reading and writing. Restore and reconnect to your full self and your purpose, and more fully and mindfully show up in the classroom.

Come gather here. Care for your whole self. Only then can you fully care for others.

With love and hope,

Ashley