I had a lot of really great teachers over the years. Especially in college. The Godfather of all of these teachers was Mr. Rupple who I had for English in 10th and 12th grade.
Mr Rupples classroom never felt like a classroom. In lieu of vocabulary tests or notebook work he would make us write essays with the weekly words we were supposed to learn. They could be about anything. They could just be nonsense.
He openly encouraged banter in his classroom so long as it didn't cross over to bullying. He was always engaged.
On September 11th I had him for last period.
He pulled up a chair, in the middle of the classroom and talked to us not as a teacher, but as a mentor.
He specifically told us that he could get in trouble for what he was about to say.
He told us what happened.
He warned us, what would happen.
He went into excruciating context.
He explained why this was happening.
It wasn't even 3:00 p.m., and he had already warned us that the people who did this, thought it was the right thing to do.
H asked us to look into the stories we encountered in previous years, to understand that sometimes there are no good guys and bad guys.
He flat out told us that a lot of adults would be lying to us over the next years. He asked that no one repeat that he told us what was happening, or the warnings that he gave us.
What amazes me is that everything he said, was hauntingly true. Every warning. Not a single student ratted him out.
Mr Ruppel was a wealthy white teacher who never talked any kind of liberation philosophy; but that day he didn't stay silent.
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