Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year

Esme designs a time machine out of an old refrigerator box and is able to convince her students that it will really transport them into the land of their favorite stories. She allows the students to use it privately for half-hour timeslots and they report their destinations back to the group. The first time traveler, JoEllen, informs the class that she travelled to see medieval jousts. Everyone’s interest is soon piqued. No one says, “it’s just a box full of boxes,” which delights Esme.

When the first snow begins falling during the school day, Esme takes all thirty-one of her students outside to witness it. The class gets accidentally locked out and has to be let back in by Mr. Turner, who is furious with her. The students are grateful for their outdoor excursion, though, and are proud when she is the only teacher who volunteers to dance at a “Just Say No!” assembly featuring a local hip-hop group the students like.

Teaching her students about the Holocaust proves to be the experience that Esme had envisioned. She buys them supplementary texts, such as “Number the Stars,” and all thirty-one copies come out of her own personal funds.