Remembering Martin

There are several ways you can show your respect and apprecation for Teacher Martin and honor his memory:

1. Write in his Memory Book. You can write your memories of Teacher Martin in the Memory Book. Ask your teacher about it. Every class will have a chance to sign it. The book will be given to his family. They can read your comments and understand how much he helped so many students.

2. Come to the Memorial Service on Wednesday, May 11th, at 8 pm in the Venus Room of the SMART Center. But! There is not a lot of space. We want everyone to come but it is not possible for everyone. Please come if you knew Martin well.

3. Watch the service later. We will record the service. You can watch the service in your class later on the SMART Board or view it on the school website. We will share the recording with Teacher Martin's family so they can watch it also.

Important: Evening classes will end at 8 pm on Wednesday, May 11.

4. Take an action for education. How can you do this?

You can study hard. You can learn. Grow. Take a risk. Remember how hard Teacher Martin worked to help so many students? He was very dedicated. Very focused. He worked hard. That brought results. You can study English like Martin taught English.

You can share what you know with others. Help them learn English. Encourage them to come to school. Help them to persevere and not give up. Support other English leaners. Share information and resources.

You can speak up about education. This is Action for Education week in California. Later this week teachers and students will be taking actions to stand up for education. I will post information about that on the blog. You can take part in what we are doing.

Martin stood up for education in so many ways. Just like a good student, he never stopped learning. He looked for and practiced new ways to be a better teacher and help others. He worked hard to teach students what they needed to succeed. He understood that people need real help - to speak better, get a good job, have a better life. He though about that and tried to find good ways to help people meet those needs and achieve their goals. And he spoke up about education to the government. He worked hard on Red Letter Day last year, helping his students write letters to the State Legislature. He knew that people must speak up. If we need something, if we know something... we must say it, share it.

Speak up... stand up... for Martin.

Honor his memory by helping yourself and your community to grow in all the best ways.