In some ways, this is the pinnacle of my career.

This student was so moved by marwencol she wrote the artist a letter., originally uploaded by elephantsgerald.

I have many successful former students. I take a lot of pride in their accomplishments.
But taking the world by storm is not the only goal I have for students. The reason we do art, make culture is to feel a connection with other people, to feel less alone.
My AP photo students watched the documentary film Marwencol this week. It's about a man so brutally beaten by a gang of teenagers that he lost all his memories and was unable to work. To deal with the lack of story and history in his life (as well as the lack of control) he created an intensely detailed (and bizarre) miniature WW2 village. It's peopled with modified GI Joe dolls, representing himself and other real people, as well as made up characters. The stories are detailed and ongoing, and he photographs them beautifully. The art world has taken an interest in his work.
This was not totally easy for these kids to watch. He has some quirks. I won't give away any surprises, but there are weird things he does that teenagers would shun if done by their peers. But they all admitted the art was beautiful. When does therapy become art?
I asked the students to write a one paragraph response to his work, and another paragraph about their idea for a project; to create a lie that tells the truth, and then to photograph it.
This girl approached me and asked if it was OKAY, OKAY if she actually wrote him a letter responding to his work instead. I stopped class, to her mortification. "Sometimes a student has a much better idea than the teacher. This is one of those times. Of course, anybody who wishes to do so may write Mark Hogancamp a letter responding to his work instead of just a response!"
Today Kay Cee came in with this beautifully written letter. The proof of her deep understanding of what his art means to him is this; included with the letter is a miniature version of the letter for the miniature version of Mark. Because in Mark's world, they are equally real. Her effort and desire to acknowledge and respect this difficult person and his struggles is just one of the most transcendent things I've ever seen in 18 years of teaching. This, people. This is a success.