How a Poet Inspired 1,000 People to Become Teachers New York
City-based slam poet and former teacher Taylor Mali is well-
known as a vocal advocate for educators. With more than 6
million YouTube views, his poem "What Teachers Make" is the
ultimate comeback to people who disrespect those who dedicate
their lives to students. But since Mali left the classroom to
perform and lecture to a global audience 12 years ago, he's done
more than lyrically defend his colleagues' hard work. In 2000,
Mali launched the New Teacher Project, an effort to use "poetry,
persuasion, and perseverance" to inspire 1,000 people to become
educators. Mali asked people fill out a form on his site if they
became teachers after hearing him speak or perform. When he
started the project, he had no idea how long it would take to
reach the goal but guessed he might accomplish it by 2006. "I
failed," he says. But no longer. Twelve years after he started,
Mali has reached his goal of helping push 1,000 people to become
educators. To celebrate th