Happy Birthday, Maria!!! (She's the one in the middle!)

Today Maria turns 29. She still looks so young, and someday, I promise her, she'll be happy about that. Right now? Not so much.

She's constantly asked how old she is, people assume she's very young so they don't give her the respect due a teacher who's been in the trenches for five years...

Listen up, people! My daughter is 29. She's a GREAT teacher, with an instinctive knowledge of how to reach a problem child. Her test scores were the best in her grade last year, and she had a class full of really troubled kids. She's smart, good at what she does, and should be given the respect due a 5-year teacher. Her dream has always been to teach at-risk children, and that's what she's doing. She worked in Trenton for a year and is now working in Hoboken. She's in the school that's in the projects end of town. Her kids are tough, street kids whose first goal in life is not to get an education, but to stay alive past their teen years.

29 cheers for Maria!!! Love you!