Anyone can be President

As a teacher, the words "Anyone can be president!" were used as an inspirational tool for students.  Asking them to picture themselves in the highest office of this country gave them the opportunity to see the possibilities their life could hold.  Sadly, after only a few weeks in office, President Trump has given those words a different meaning.  No longer does someone have to be qualified for the position, after all "Anyone can be president." I was prepared and ready to give our new leader a chance.  He quickly shot down any possible optimism I had with his bullying and heavy handed measures. Our president has become someone we cannot encourage our students to look up to. He bullies others publicly and on social media. We have lessons about this starting in elementary school discouraging his exact behavior. It saddens me that to say I can no longer use our country's highest office to inspire our nation's youth. I am also sadden by the division in our nation. Thankfully it has not made an appearance in my classroom yet. I worry that it's only a matter of time. I am not the nicest person I know, or even close to it. How is it possible that I can have more empathy for others than some? Does this mean our country is divided by hate or is it ignorance? It is a shame that ignorance can breed hate, for either way our country is headed down a long hard road. I hope to inspire students in my classroom to be problem solvers. I work hard to help them be critical thinkers. I try to prepare our country's future. We will have quite a lot of work ahead of us.