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By Michael Chamness
IASA Director of Communications
Rafe Esquith might be the most decorated
teacher in America. He doesn’t need to teach another
day. He could be writing another best-seller or
working on a movie about his incredible career. He
even was asked to start his own line of “Rafe
Schools” in China. Instead, he’s right where he knows
he should be: Starting his 32
nd
year of teaching fifth-
graders at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in
the Koreantown neighborhood of Los Angeles.
“The first rule I have as a teacher is to be a role
model for my students. I tell my students that what we
do in Room 56 matters,” said Esquith in a phone
interview during a school break for lunch recently. “If I
leave this place, I’m lying to them.”
Recipient of such prestigious awards as the 1992
Disney National Outstanding Teacher of the Year
Award, the Oprah Winfrey “Use Your Life Award,”
Parents Magazine’s “As You Grow Award,” the
National Medal of Arts Award, the Compassion in
Action Award from the Dalai Lama, and the Stephen
Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award, Esquith will
be the headline speaker to close the IASA Annual
Conference on Friday, October 10.
He wrote “Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire,” which
made the New York Times’ bestseller list in 2007, as
well as “There Are No Shortcuts” (2003), “Lighting
Their Fires” (2009), and his latest book “Real Talk for
Real Teachers,” written in 2013.
That he still is teaching in Room 56 at Hobart
Elementary might be surprising to some, but how he
ended up there is one clue. Upon graduating from
UCLA, Esquith got a job teaching at Ivanhoe
Elementary School, a decidedly upper middle class
school. He taught there for two happy years before
moving to Hobart, or, more accurately, being
challenged to move to Hobart.
“We won the L.A. city math championship and I
was feeling pretty good about things when the
principal of Hobart came over and said ‘You didn’t do
anything. Anybody could have won with your team,’ “
Esquith recalled. “He invited me to visit Hobart
Elementary and I was shocked.” Also inspired,
apparently. He left the relative comforts of Ivanhoe to
tackle the inner-city struggles facing the Hobart
students. The poverty level was 90 percent and
English was the second language for most students.
Like many inner-city schools and a growing
(Continued on page 13)
Most decorated teacher in America
fulfills commitment to his students
Friday, October 10
9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Closing General Session
Real Talk for Real Educators
