Amber Walker
Amber Walker had to be the coolest and most inspiring teacher I ever had. She was my drama coach and my English teacher when I was a sophomore in high school. Thirty years ago today she threw out her lesson plans and instead led a discussion about the death of John Lennon and the importance of peace.
Amber was like that, willing to go with teachable moments, willing to speak about ideas that mattered, and willing to take a chance that something she might say could not just fill time but also change time.
She led us to state competition with a play that was about who really profits and promotes wars. Her smiles always told us that we had a purpose and a place in life. There was a poem by John Mansfield that she use to lead us in for theater warm ups that said, “I must go down to the sea again, the lonely sea and the sky, and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.”
Today I am thankful for peace mentors that have been my stars to steer by. You are not forgotten, you guide me still.
