Little Mae was a dreamer. She dreamed of dancing in space, surrounded by billions of sparkling stars.✨ Encouraged by her parents’ words, Mae dug in and began the work of making it happen. “If you can dream it, if you believe it and work hard for it, anything is possible,” they said. Mae became NASA’s first African American female astronaut. And on September 12, 1992, she became the first African American woman to travel to space.
So what’s the kicker?
One of Mae’s teachers.
When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Mae told her teacher about her dream of becoming an astronaut. And her teacher responded with, “Are you sure you don’t want to be a nurse? Nursing would be a good profession for someone like you.”
To be honest, when I read that page, I felt angry. I felt sad for Mae. I felt the loss of her dream. I felt embarrassed for teachers. And I felt embarrassed to be a teacher. I decided I didn’t want this book. I put it back on the shelf and walked away. How could I (a teacher) read this book to children?
But I knew it had been the truth … Mae’s truth … a truth many people face, many days, for many different reasons. Doubters are real. Judgement is real. And hiding from it doesn’t make it go away. Kids will pick up on the fact that it was Mae’s teacher who doubted her, while you, their teacher, are reading it to them.
That page was a good reminder of the power and influence our words have on children. Our words can help curate, or crush, a dream. I think the responsible thing to do is to read the book with our students … to honor any of their disappointing views, to allow the tough questions, to recognize the discrimination, to teach how doubters are often the fuel for a dreamer’s fire, and then to reassure them that Mae’s teacher is not a reflection of all teachers.
So I turned around, took the book back off the shelf, and bought it.
I wasn’t going to let Mae’s teacher win this one.
🌎 Mae Among the Stars: Written by Roda Ahmed, Illustrated by Stasia Burrington
