However, I am still a reject for insisting on systemic change that takes kids from where they are, at there rate, in there way with no letter grades. Then, again, why would anyone listen to a failure?

Over the years, the kids who you support, care for, teach, nurture, engage, push, and help to find interests that keep them learning will probably never know how close they came to not having you as a teacher. Sometimes we don’t see or hear the potential in a child because of our own filters. I’m glad that you had the resilience to move to that next course- no telling how many teachers are missing from our classrooms because of that same letter.