Lori Rivera Nurtures Her Students by Introducing Them to the Real World of Ideas and Thought

Lori Rivera teaches history, sociology and geography at Cole High School in Fort Sam Houston ISD, but what she really instills in her students is how to think. She brings current events into her teaching plans each week. When we visited her classroom, Ms. Rivera was preparing her students to listen to the Republican presidential nominees' debate - and not just to listen to their words but also to critique their words and pick out the ideas they discussed.

She says that these days her teaching is less content centered than it has been in the past. On a military base, students move in and out a lot. They have to play catch up on content, but if they learn how to think, they are able to move around and still be successful students. "It's especially challenging for many of them, because their minds are on their sister - brother - parent, in Iraq or in a hospital having a leg amputated. It's important for them to know they're safe at the school," she maintains.

Her primary goal is for each student to accept her challenge to do more than he or she thinks possible. For the time she has them in her class, she will push them and prod them to think - and they love her for it. When students return to the campus, she is the first teacher they seek out. They say she challenges them, but she's always there for them too.