Lin-Manuel Miranda Honors Teachers By Having a Chat With His High School Theater Adviser

Wherever you see a talented artist, know that there are talented teachers behind them who made them what they are. Hamilton creator and current Disney songsmith extraordinaire, Lin-Manuel Miranda, totally acknowledges this by having a touching sit-down with his high school theater adviser.

As reported by GOOD Magazine, Miranda returned to Hunter College High School, where he was a student, to meet up with his theater adviser, Gina Nocera McCort. After a squeeful reunion, they sit down to have a conversation about what teaching means to her, and what her work and encouragement meant to him.

He starts by saying that, despite his considerable accomplishments, being back in the school’s auditorium, “still feels like the biggest theater in the world to me.”

Miranda asks her when she realized she was a teacher and what that means for her. “You have to set the bar high, right?” she says. “Set high expectations. I think we did that together. I didn’t say, Oh you guys have to work up here. But I said, ‘What if?’ and you said ‘Okay.’ And I stepped back, and I started asking more questions. Helping them tap into their own spark, wherever that leads them.”

He then thanks her for teaching him, and they hug, and it is magical and brought all my high school drama memories back and made me want to contact my high school drama adviser to say hi (yes, we still keep in loose touch. Hi, Marjorie!).

This is all a part of the #ThanksForTeachingMe campaign, which is related to The Super School Project, an awesome initiative looking to rethink public high school, a system that has remained virtually unchanged basically since its inception.

One thing that will never change is the need for passionate, inspiring, and nurturing teachers. Thank you to all the amazing teachers out there who spend their lives helping the rest of us grow.

(image: screencap)

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