The People Who Inspire Me

by Andre-Tascha Gervais-Reynold Lamme

Description It is simple. There are normal people all around us who make the world a better place through their actions. Herein, I recognize them -- in hopes that you will see the same in the people around you.
From Chapter 7 - Balaram Shakti Das
"But, a great teacher gets their students motivated to question their premises, to look at things from different perspectives. A great teacher serves as a model for the behavior that we as parents want to see in our kids. A great teacher can make all the difference in the direction a kid's life will take."
From Chapter 14 - Derrell Bradford
"Derrell gets this. He feels it viscerally. To him, every kid, regardless of background can change the world. Derrell knows that in schools across our nation there are kids that we are failing. As a society, we need to understand this and get behind fixing it."
From Chapter 17 - Peter Cook
"In days to come, there shall be leaders in Louisiana and our nation who shall talk about their youth in New Orleans. They shall talk about how the education they received allowed them to be accomplished in their chosen fields. They shall not mention Peter by name, but by the lives that they shall lead, they shall be thanking him."
From Chapter 19 - Chris Stewart
"Chris is an intense man, and I admire him for such. He refuses to accept - from anybody, whether they are his "opponents" or his "allies" - that any segment of our society should start off on a lesser footing. His words and deeds have, do and shall ensure that all kids, regardless of their genetic or experiential makeup will have the opportunity to determine their own futures to the greatest extent possible."
From Chapter 20 - Jon Bunch
"We all have that family member or friend that has come to visit for just a few days - "days" being a very loosely defined term. We are never keen on their visit, but there is little that we can do about it. We get through the days, attempting to abide by their intrusion into every aspect of our lives. Eventually they leave and we have our life back for a period of time. That is how I view death. "
From Chapter 25 - Kevin Seconds
"There is a term that initially came out of the mathematics study of dynamical systems called the "Butterfly Effect". Due to the ease with which it describes highly complex interactions, it entered more common usage besides just chaos theory. In a gross oversimplification, it describes how a small action can have massive and demonstrable effects in the broader world. Such is how I view my brother-of-the-heart, Kevin Marvelli (AKA Kevin Seconds)."
From Chapter 37 - The Fulchers
"The lyrics to the H2O song "Heart on my Sleeve" are about Toby Morse's tattoos (he is fully covered). Whenever I hear that song, I immediately think of Taylor and Ray. However, where Toby visually proclaims to the world (via his tattoos) his caring for others, Taylor and Ray are a wee bit more genteel - yet no less dedicated. These two care, and they care hard. They prove that constantly and consistently.
And, that caring for others comes from their parents - two people for whom I am inordinately thankful (and of whom I think about regularly), as their children made my life worth living."
Chapter 52 - Cheyenne Fong
"Cheyenne represents the best aspect of being a true hardcore kid: she saw a problem - a community struggling - and she stepped up. She epitomizes the best of our community."
Chapter 55 - Michelle Fossi
"Grand gestures are great, but just as with the woman who walks the train, passing out the pastries to strangers, Michelle's small acts of kindness have buoyed me."