The journal
I had Mrs. McAuliffe in 9th grade English at Bow Memorial, and everyone loved her. One of her ideas — keeping a journal in space — was similar to a daily assignment we did in class. At the end of each period, we could write about anything we wanted in our journals. If we chose to share it with her, she would always write back. If we wanted to keep it private, we could fold the page over, and she would simply mark it complete without reading it. Mrs. McAuliffe could be trusted with your deepest thoughts. I still have that journal.
She was truly a gifted teacher — kind, creative, personable and funny. I still remember one Halloween when she came to class dressed in her husband’s Army fatigues, hat and all. There is no exaggeration when people talk about how amazing she was. Every word of it is true.