Students in our schools rarely see their teachers write anything other than referrals, lesson plans or red-pencil comments on their work. They never see the teacher write a poem, short story, or letter to the editor. much less rewrite it. But Community of Writers, a nonprofit program to improve writing instruction and student achievement in our classrooms, encourages teachers to write. In fact, we demand it. We want them to be partners with their students in the writing process. The stories in this book are a very small sampling of the writing these teachers can produce. These teachers are not professional writers. but they are professional in their dedication to inspire their students.