We love a feel-good movie about folks who made sacrifices to improve the world. As a group, teachers fit under that category more than the rest of us as a whole, but even among teachers, some stand out. For example, Emma Willard, born in 1787, started teaching early as a teenager and never stopped advocating for her students.
Emma Willard was born in a time when women were permitted no more than basic learning. Fortunately, her father supported her interest in education, with the result that she became a teacher at the age of 17. In time, she went on to found the first school that offered higher education to women in the whole of the United States, which can still be found in Troy, NY under her name. Later, when she had entrusted her school to both her son and her daughter-in-law, she went on to promote education for women not just in the United States but also throughout Europe.
Read about other inspirational teachers who would make good movie subjects at TVOM.