Dear George Guthridge,

I fell in love with your book, The Kids from Nowhere. It was a good about how kids were labeled as uneducable students but turned them into kids who learned to love learning. This book showed me how important helping others is. Also how it shows makes a big difference in people’s life.

It showed how you gave the kids tough love. You told them that they need to earn their grades and learn for themselves instead of automatically giving them the grades. You showed how caring about them would change their life’s in a big way. You gave them hope on how they could do more with their lives.

Sometimes I felt like them. Like I can’t do anything. Or I just wasn’t good enough to do something. Those kids probably felt the same way. Although they achieved what others called impossible. They are so amazing. After reading the book I felt that if I put my mind to it I can do anything. It’s amazing how much you can do. They did amazing things that I could never do. The book showed how I can help with others too. How I can interact and help kids. For instance help my brother with his Special Olympics. The kids are so grateful for the simplest things.

The book showed me how some places are different from others. Just the way how school really isn’t that important to them. They hunt and fish and they also have very cold winters. Life is different from one place to another. In the book they live by what their ancestors did and what the elders tell them to do. With us it’s different. Kids can be very rude and disobedient. They basically do what best suits them and their way of life. You have two different cultures that are so widely spread apart.

The book showed how a teacher impacted the life of others. It surprised me that the kids did listen to him and did what they are supposed to do. They showed them selves that they can learn and that they are capable of doing it.

I am so glad I read your book. It inspired me to get up and go help others. I have started a project of my own. I am gathering toys for the sick kids and going to the hospital and going to each kid. It’s a great learning experience. You also get the feeling you did something good. I’m sure that’s how you felt when you helped the kids do more with their lives.

I am so grateful that I picked up your book and read it. I was truly inspired on what you did. You’re a great teacher. I would like to meet you someday and really know what it was like. Even though you had a tough time in the beginning it was worth it in the end. You thought kids who were labeled uneducable to kids who loved to learn. Thank you for a book I will always remember. You did something that will last a lifetime.

Sincerely,

Morgan Swallow

9th Grade
A.J. Dimond High School, Anchorage, Alaska
Teacher:  Rebecca Norsworthy