Endorsements FOR 'LOVE, BRIMMING'
“During a long career as high school principal, superintendent of schools, and college president, I have seen endless proposals for improving schools. The reason why most fade and fail after brief periods is that reformers continually miss the point: What changes the lives of students is a caring, stimulating, supportive teacher. One of the most impressive examples is Maureen Ackerman, an English teacher who partnered with students to create an inspired teaching and learning experience. These thoughtful essays by her former students, now in the midst of their busy and accomplished mid-careers, show the lifelong impact of her simple, dedicated approach. This beautiful book should be studied by all who care about serious education.”
—Dr. Francis Roberts, decades-long educator and former president of Bank Street College of Education
“Maureen Ackerman is the kind of teacher we are lucky to cross paths with even just once in a lifetime—and especially as teenagers. In this compelling collection of personal essays, her former English and Creative Writing students share how deeply her empathy and encouragement shaped them. Quite simply, she saw them. And this helped them to understand themselves on a soul level. Love, Brimming is not a teaching guide. It is teaching inspiration. It will lead any teacher or aspiring teacher, any coach or manager in any discipline or industry, to strive for authentic connection built on a foundation of respect and love.”
—MeiMei Fox, New York Times best-selling author
“Maureen Ackerman was my best student: the most alert, the most creative and poetic, and a beautiful writer. It hardly surprises me that, as a teacher, she transferred those same qualities to her students. In these essays, former students from over 40 years demonstrate the gentle power of her teaching. Like them, the reader will be enthralled by this gifted, giving woman. No teacher, prospective or practicing, should be without this inspiring book.”
—Roger Rosenblatt, author of Making Toast, Kayak Morning, and Cold Moon
“The captivating essays in Love, Brimming have touched my heart and stirred my soul. Each one highlights the power of unconditional love in action, and the beauty of authentic self-expression. I loved this book!”
—Marci Shimoff, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Happy for No Reason and Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul
“A teacher can be a rare gift. In this beautiful set of essays, students, now grown, remember and acknowledge what Maureen Ackerman—an extraordinary teacher and writer—has given them. She asks, ‘Who are you?’ and the intensity of her interest in them blossoms. As one of her students says about being seen, ‘This was the kind of gold that buys freedom.’ This book taps the heart of writing and true teaching, and calls forth the best in teachers, students, and writers everywhere.”
—Rolf Stavig, LCSW, University of Colorado Cancer Center, Writing with Cancer Facilitator
“In a series of powerful remembrances, Maureen Sweeney Ackerman’s students—dating back forty years—recall how her commitment to guiding them to their own passions has changed their lives. As a former college professor in the teacher education department, I believe this book should be required reading in teacher preparation programs across the country. It can—and will—change the lives of teachers and students alike.”
—Karen Cirincione, Ph.D., “A Whole Language College Literacy Center for Elementary and Secondary Students,” Journal of Reading Education.
“These essays demonstrate that the most effective teaching goes beyond the books. Maureen Ackerman was teaching her students all along the way to trust the process and to trust themselves. Her organic approach to writing, her enthusiasm, her encouragement, and her endless curiosity liberated her students to discover who they were. She taught them much more than how to write. She gave them the greatest gift of all, a new belief in themselves and in a new world of possibilities.”
—Nancy Ratey, ADHD coach and best-selling author of The Disorganized Mind
“There is a desire in every student to belong, to believe they are being accepted, understood, appreciated, and affirmed. Shaping an environment that allows each student to feel that sense of belonging can be challenging, yet these essays attest to what can happen when teachers encourage students to embrace not only their own potential, but the potential of their classmates, as well. Maureen Ackerman’s way of engaging with those wanting to learn is a model for teachers and students everywhere.”
—Kevin Walsh, O.C.S.O., M.Div. Mepkin Abbey
“Growing up is an arduous process, and becoming an authentic, whole person is even harder. People often lose themselves along the way and wither, beholden to inner voices that are not their own. How wonderful it is when someone in a position of authority has the gift to stir the soul in a young person and help them see, hear, and believe in themselves. The touching essays in Love, Brimming powerfully convey again and again how one person, overflowing with passion, humanity, and a commitment to unconditional love, can have such deep and meaningful impact on the lives of so many. We can only truly know ourselves through right connection to another, and this book reveals the magic of that process. This is a must read for leaders and educators.”
—Sergio Baroni, Psychotherapist, Coach, Author
