Welcome to Heads and Hatracks! The inspiration for the site’s name comes from author Estelene Boratenski’s sixth grade math teacher, who demanded, “Young people, use your heads for something besides hatracks!” Mrs. Short stood in front of us and waved her chalk in the air, forcing us to think hard instead of just adorning our heads with fancy hats that look good on the surface but have nothing substantial underneath.  We could all benefit from a leader like her, who would command us every day to put aside our silliness and think hard about what’s important.

Please join me in seeking that kind of a world. I am a storyteller, teacher, and writer. I have lived life at the intersection of family, faith, and education. However, I value the separation of church and state and think it’s possible for our faith to inform our work in the world without demanding that others share it. I believe that each of us–of every faith and perspective–has something to learn from and something to teach others.  I find great joy in hearing others’ stories and in sharing my own.

I have few great certainties, but these are among them:

• In all of us, something is eternal, and we are the richer for appreciating what every human being has to offer the world.
• We have a responsibility to lift up one another and to care for those that the world sometimes abandons.
• We can change this country for the better and realize our dream of equality if we work together and realize that none of us have all the answers.

If you, too, believe in the power of stories to change the world, I hope you’ll read my blog and add your own voice to the conversation.