Newtown, Connecticut, Reminds Us to Honor Our Chalkboard Heroes

So many of us have had Newtown, Connecticut, on our minds these past few months, as we hold our own children more closely, guard our students more carefully, and evaluate our lawmakers' choices more intensely. This newest example of senseless loss of life saddens us all deeply. Of course, every instance of school room violence reminds us of Columbine High School, and the valiant teacher, Dave Sanders, who was killed there protecting his students from two well-armed student assassins. Sanders, a business teacher and girls basketball coach with 25 years of tenure, clearly went beyond the call of duty to ensure the safe evacuation of over 200 Columbine students and colleagues, and lamentably he paid the ultimate price. You can read Sanders's heroic life story in a slender volume entitled Dave Sanders: Columbine Teacher, Coach, Hero by Marilyn Saltzman and Linda Lou Sanders. The book can be found on amazon at Dave Sanders, but is very costly, and alas the book is not easily available at your local library. If you're highly motivated, however, you will pay the asking price to read the book. Or you could wait to read the chapter about this lionhearted teacher in the book I am currently writing, tentatively entitled Chalkboard Heroes.