My Philosophy Revisited: Not What, Who

   Chatting with some former Hancock colleagues, we were talking about why the Place was different, why the metrics used elsewhere didn't quite fit, and why perfectly acceptable, perhaps even good, teachers in other districts didn't succeed or last at Hancock. 
   All of us at the table had treasured our time there, knew that, at least for us (and, we hoped, our kids) the Place was home, where we belonged, giving us a career that, for all its frustrations, had rewarded us, spiritually if not monetarily, beyond measure. As to why this phrase, so simple as to seem obvious, waited so long to come to the fore, I can't explain, although I'd circled around it often enough, saying the same thing in different ways. At Hancock, it was who we taught, not what we taught, that mattered.