Coffee Break: Tom Rademacher on His New Book, the Moment He Wanted to Teach and Getting Hit by a Deer

“Mr. Rademacher will do anything in his power to help his students succeed.” One of Tom Rademacher’s students wrote that about him in a nomination for Minnesota’s Teacher of the Year, which he won in 2014. His new book, “It Won’t Be Easy,” comes out April 25. He wrote it “because I often feel like I’m on an island as a teacher,” he explains in the introduction. Like his profession, he’s both uplifting and demanding.

It Won't Be Easy (Tom Rademacher)Is teacher’s lounge coffee a thing? Or does everyone bring their own? Do you take a coffee mug to first period?

The teacher’s lounge in every school I’ve ever worked is always the emptiest room in the building. The idea that a school would provide coffee to their staff is sweet and dreamy and wonderful. I haven’t seen it happen.

Every year, I’ve had a coffee pot in my room, which has always been against the rules. Part of my morning routine is to come into school, make a pot of coffee and get caught up on emails and planning. My favorite coffee mug is one a student made for me before she graduated. It has a big cut-out of a deer on it to commemorate the time a deer hit me while I was biking to school one day.

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Published in: Education Post
By: Michael Vaughn