In Honor of Sana: Why the World Needs a Movement for Teachers

In Honor of Sana: Why the World Needs a Movement for Teachers Sana was kind. Sana was empathetic. And Sana was proud to be a teacher. Not just in title—but in purpose, in spirit, in how she showed up every single day for her students, her colleagues, her community. And yet, even as we celebrate her memory, we are reminded of a difficult truth: teaching remains one of the most undervalued professions in our society. It’s ironic, really. Without teachers, there would be no CEOs, no engineers, no doctors, no artists. There would be no other professions. Teachers are the first builders of dreams, the quiet sculptors of futures. Still, when someone says, “I’m a teacher,” the response they often receive is not awe, but ambivalence. As if teaching is something you fall back on, rather than rise into. As if it reflects a lack of ambition rather than a depth of purpose. This way of thinking is painfully familiar—it echoes the outdated attitudes once held about women, when leadership, intellect, and strength were seen as the domain of men. It took movements to change that. It took courage, voices, action. It took loss and love and fierce advocacy. Maybe now it’s time for teaching to have its movement too. Because Sana was not “just” a teacher. She was a guide. A listener. A gentle challenger. She inspired growth not by command, but by connection. She taught with joy, even in the shadows of her own struggles. She believed that the work of shaping young minds was not peripheral to society, but central to it. Teachers like Sana are not simply transmitters of knowledge. They are cultivators of curiosity, architects of resilience, and quiet revolutionaries in classrooms that rarely make the headlines. And yet, how often are they compensated—or even spoken to—as professionals who matter? How often are they respected for the emotional labor, the unpaid hours, the sheer human generosity they offer every day? If we want to build a better world, we must begin by honoring those who shape the minds that will lead it. Let us shift the narrative. Let us see teachers not as placeholders or plan Bs, but as essential voices in our collective future. Let us pay them what they’re worth, listen when they speak, and elevate them in our culture and policies. Sana never asked for applause. But she deserves it. And so do the countless others who walk the same path she walked—with love, humility, and purpose. The world needs a movement for teachers. Because they are not the side story. They are the beginning of every story.