AOC Has a Sweet Virtual Reunion with Her Second-Grade Teacher

From Harper's BAZAAR

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez virtually reunited with her second-grade teacher, whom she called Ms. Jacobs, via Twitter.

• AOC tweeted about having a brief 60 seconds to deliver her remarks at the Democratic National Convention next week, and Ms. Jacobs supportively responded, "Remember all those poems we recited together in 2nd grade? It was prep for this moment."

As New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gears up for her first appearance at the Democratic National Convention next week, she's also keeping in mind the lessons she learned as a child.

Tweeting in reference to the 60-second time slot for her remarks at the Democratic National Convention next week, AOC quoted a poem by civil rights leader Benjamin Mays: "I only have a minute. / Sixty seconds in it. / Forced upon me, I did not choose it, / But I know that I must use it. / Give account if I abuse it. / Suffer, if I lose it. / Only a tiny little minute, / But eternity is in it."

Then, a user tweeted their encouraging response to her. "You've got this," the user wrote. "Remember all those poems we recited together in 2nd grade? It was prep for this moment. You've got this."

AOC replied, "Ms. Jacobs! Is that you?! Yes, I do remember the poems we recited in second grade! You prepared me perfectly for this moment. Thank you for teaching me, encouraging my growth, and believing in me as a child."

Ms. Jacobs's Twitter bio reads, "Veteran elementary teacher. Uncertain about our future but inspired by former student @AOC and hopeful for Biden/Harris."

She also later quote-tweeted AOC's response to her, writing, "One of my lowest days this summer, worried about my teaching future. And then this."

As a new semester nears, many educators, students, and parents have expressed their concerns about schooling in the age of COVID-19, especially as the country continues to see a high number of cases.

In a powerful display of collective might, Chicago teachers threatened a strike if schools reopened in-person classes while the pandemic remains uncontrolled across the country.

"We shouldn't have had to fight for our students' lives," Sarah Chambers, a special education teacher, told Business Insider. "There are teachers writing their wills."

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