If You Can Read This, Thank a Teacher

Recipient of the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, the National Humanities Medal, and the 2025 WHYY Lifelong Learning Award, James Patterson is the author of the #1 bestselling Heroes Among Us nonfiction series.  

Teachers are the heroes we too often forget to thank. And we need heroes more than ever.
From across the country, from kindergarten to high school, from public, private, religious, or military schools, teachers tell us about their classrooms.
They tell us what it takes to teach kids day in and day out.
They tell us what it takes to improve kids’ lives, even as they generously give of their own. 
They tell us what it takes to foster lifelong leaders and lifelong readers. 
If you can read this, someone cared about you.
If you can read this, you want a brighter future for our kids.
If you can read this, thank a teacher.