About Us
Welcome to the Teaching with Heart, Fire, and Poetry website!
This site was inspired by our experience writing, editing, and working with remarkable teachers and leaders to create Teaching with Heart, Leading from Within, and Teaching with Fire.
For each of these books, we invited teachers and leaders to write short reflections on poems that held meaning for them in their life and work. Each day we opened our inboxes to heartfelt stories and poignant poems. It was a privilege to be entrusted with these reflections, and a joy to shape and arrange them into books that celebrate and honor those doing good work in the world.
The response to the books has been the icing on the cake. Many wrote glowing reviews, and even more sent notes thanking us for creating a space where these teachers’ voices—often echoing their own—could be heard.
We also heard from many who wanted to share poems or tell stories about their work—continuing the conversation begun in the books. As we looked around, we noticed that few websites offered a place for everyday teachers (those not widely known or published) to share their reflections. To change that, we created Teaching with Heart, Fire & Poetry, a space where all teachers can share about their life and work.
We encourage you to explore all the ways you can join the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you and, together, creating a lively and meaningful community of inspiration and support for teachers everywhere.
— Sam and Megan
To learn more about our individual books and projects, please visit our personal pages.
Our Colleagues and Partners
We have been very fortunate to work with many individuals and organizations that are doing extraordinary work to support teachers and further the vocation of teaching. Throughout it all, two in particular, the Center for Courage & Renewal and Parker J. Palmer, have been remarkable friends and partners.
The Center for Courage & Renewal: Poetry as a source of reflection and dialogue is one of the many practices you’ll discover via the Center for Courage & Renewal. The Center sponsored many of the books on this website, including: Teaching with Heart, Leading from Within, and Teaching with Fire. A significant portion of the royalties from the poetry books go to support programs at the Center. The Center also offers professional development and personal renewal programs and a variety of inspiring resources for teachers and leaders.
Parker J. Palmer, founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has reached millions worldwide through his nine books, including The Courage to Teach, Let Your Life Speak, A Hidden Wholeness, and Healing the Heart of Democracy. We are grateful for his support, wisdom and friendship – and for the wonderful pieces he wrote for each of the poetry anthologies.
Funders and Supporting Institutions: We were fortunate to have the following support in creating the three poetry books: the generosity of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding the writing and editing of Teaching with Fire; the Lilly Endowment, Inc., and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for funding Leading from Within; and the Center for Courage & Renewal for their support of Teaching with Heart, Leading from Within and Teaching with Fire. We are grateful for their support.