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"Nelson Mandela, former South African president and anti-apartheid revolutionary, died on Thursday at age 95. He leaves behind a legacy of courageous leadership that will undoubtedly inspire generations to come.\n\"He achieved more than could be expected of any man,\" President Obama said in a statement shortly after Mandela's death. \"Today he has gone home [...] He no longer belongs to us; he belongs to the ages.\"\nSee also: 11 Inspiring Moments to Remember Nelson Mandela\nWhile world leaders address their nations on an international stage, how will teachers do the same with their students in the classroom this week? We asked a few how they'll share Mandela's story. Here's what they said.\nDiane Christian, 11th and 12th grades, Englewood, N.J.\nChristian, who teaches America in the Civil Rights Era at Dwight-Englewood School, said she'll tie in her remarks about Mandela to the lessons she's already reviewing in class, like Martin Luther King Jr.'s role in the civil rights movement.\nThe first thing I'll ask is how many people know that Nelson Mandela has died. We've been talking a lot about the rights of people in general, so as I talk to them, it'll be in [that] context. It'll be about what Nelson has done to change lives in South Africa and what that means around the world \u2014 how [leaders like Nelson and King] were willing to risk their lives for something they truly believe in, and for the public to have someone to look up to when it comes to justice in general.\nEnzo Carlevaro, high school, Barcelona, Spain\nCarlevaro, a high school teacher in Barcelona, will tell his students that it's now their job to keep the voice of Mandela alive.\n\nAround us, and often inside of us, there are still discriminatory labels. Only when all these labels, applies to discriminate sex, race, ideology or geographical origin and so on will disappear, the teachings and legacy of Mandela will have been successful. Our job now is to keep this fight alive, peacefully but stubbornly.\nAfter Martin Luther King Jr. said \"I have a dream,\" Mandela specified that \"a winner is a dreamer who never gives up.\" From thought to action, at all costs.\n\nEllen Austin, 10th, 11th and 12th grades, San Jose, Calif.\nAs the director of journalism at the Harker School in San Jose, Austin said she'll be speaking to a class of high school students who work on the school's newspaper and online news site.\n\nI will tell my students that yesterday one of the most important men of the last 50 years left this world, and left it a much different and better place than the day he entered it. Mandela lived a singular life with a singular soul. It is remarkable he transcended not only the systemic oppression that apartheid embodied, but also the direct oppression of 27 years in prison because of his unbending belief that the apartheid system had to end. But even more remarkable was the way he seemed to transcend bitterness and revenge. Mandela could have used his power to tell the oppressed people in his nation to pick up arms and take a path of violent revolution. Instead, Mandela advocated a transition that relied on mechanisms to provide a holistic road to healing hatreds. And he kept his faith intact, both his faith in a heavenly ally in his cause and his faith in the power of humanity to choose goodness and compassion in the hardest moments.\nI will remind my students that individuals like Nelson Mandela are not icons to put on a shelf and revere. Instead, let a person like Mandela be a beacon that lights up the path when facing a challenge to your rights, or facing those who would wish to silence your voice. Stay strong, because standing up in the face of any challenge takes great courage.\n\nEmanuela Castoldi, middle school, Monza, Italy\nCastoldi, a music teacher at a middle school in Italy, prepared a more traditional memorial for her students on Friday, with candles and songs.\nThis morning we learned the song \"Georgia on my Mind,\" we a lit up candle that changes colors, and we're playing the song. Some kids play the flute while the solo voices are kids of color [...] We even saw the movie Ray last week.\nMissy Wolter Klapperich, 6th grade, Cannon Falls, Minn.\nAs a middle school social studies teacher, Klapperich said she'll more than likely have to start from the beginning when telling her 11- and 12-year-old students about Mandela. However, it will be a worthwhile endeavor to ensure they grasp the impact he had.\n\nMy guess is many of them won't even recognize his name. It will be my mission to introduce him to them, try to walk them through his remarkable life and leave them with the legacy he leaves behind. I will express my view of him \u2014 that he was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. I will tell them how he lived several imprisoned lives \u2014 one in the grasps of apartheid, and one for 27 years on an island called Robben.\nThis kind, humble, peaceful and courageous soul changed the world we live in. We all hope and aspire to do good deeds, to make the world a better place for our children and positively inspire every life we interact with. He was the epitome of good, of honor, of courage. This man inspired others before he was imprisoned. He inspired fellow inmates while incarcerated, and he inspired the country he ruled once released.\nNo, it went beyond that... He inspired the world.\nI think I would then leave them with my favorite Nelson Mandela quote, \u201CNo one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.\u201D\n\nTrevor R. Getz, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, Calif.\nAs a professor who teaches History of Africa, Getz's class already had a background on Mandela when they convened on Thursday after Mandela died.\n\nAs a historian, I am all too well aware that there are few \"great\" men or women in history. Nelson Rohilhlahla Mandela, however, fit that adjective in every sense of the word. He was the embodiment of human dignity as well as reconciliation, a hero to the poor and downtrodden and a symbol of our capacity to be better than we are.\nIn an age of nationalism and chauvinism he \"cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.\" In an era of unbridled capitalism, he reminded us that \"[a] nation should be judged not by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest.\"\nMore than anything, he represented hope, because he proved that a person \u2014 and a society \u2014 can grow, and learn, and improve. His transformation from a fighter to a peacemaker was harder and more torturous than we like to imagine in our veneration of what he became, but that makes it all the more inspirational.\n\nJulie Langley, middle school, Knoxville, Tenn.\nLangley, an English teacher at Bearden Middle School in Tennessee, will tie in a lesson about Mandela with The Pearl by John Steinbeck, which her students are reading. \nIt certainly seems that Mandela and Steinbeck, at least through Steinbeck's portrayal of Kino in the novel, don't agree on much. I am planning to use some of these quotes to ask students to ponder where they find themselves philosophically on issues such as difficulties/trials, education, leadership and what truly makes a man.\nThis story has been amended. A previous version of this story said Emanuela Castoldi was an elementary school teacher, while she actually teaches at a middle school.\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.\nImage:\u00A0Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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