COLLEAGUE PROFILE: Michael Rae-Grant

At BFS, Michael Rae-Grant is a first-grade teacher—and a terrific one, at that. However, did you know that Michael was born in Toronto? Or that he has had some of his cartoons published in The New Yorker? Or that he finds biking to work in the morning Brooklyn traffic to be relaxing? Well, it’s all true and Michael, now in his fourth year at Brooklyn Friends School, isn’t resting on his laurels. “John Dewey once wrote something to the effect of, ‘A good person is one who—no matter what they did in the past—is trying to do good now.’ That line always stuck with me because it’s such a generous and welcoming definition of goodness. I love the focus on the present—’what good are we trying to do today?’ I think Brooklyn Friends shares that focus—in our community we consistently strive to do the right thing. I’m proud to be part of a community like that.” One of the highlights for Michael each year is teaching his young students how to read. “I love teaching kids to read because it gives them a superpower. Suddenly, they can do all these incredible things that once seemed impossible.” One of the superpowers that Michael is known for is the musical performance he creates each year with his class. “It’s an enormous amount of fun to create each production. I do a different play each year because I love the way it results in unique experiences. Since I co-create the whole thing with students, each play only exists because a specific group of kids helped bring it to life. The collaborative, serendipitous process is very rewarding!” Bravo, Michael!