T-Shirts and Shakespeare

I signed on to post about a book and an NPR news piece called The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Following the creation of the average T-Shirt is how Pietra Rivoli examines the workings of our global economy. I found this wildly interesting, and wanted to tell others about it. All Things Considered even provides an excerpt of the book to read.

However, while I was signing on to write this, the next story came up, and it was even more enthralling--thrilling, even. It's about a teacher in an inner city elementary school whose students come from poverty-stricken and immigrant families. This teacher, Mr. Rafu Esquith, dedicates himself to his fifth-grade students, eliciting such passion and excitement in them that they voluntary give up recess and vacations to learn with him. These fifth graders study Shakespeare in depth; they read Catcher in the Rye, Huck Finn--things I didn't touch until well into high school. If I were to be a teacher--and I do think about it from time to time--this is the kind of teacher I would aspire to be. I would consider myself a failure if I did anything less (which is why, at this time, I am not a teacher). It was such an inspiring story that I feel compelled to find his memoir There are No Shortcuts and read it.