“This starts my 22nd year of teaching middle school. Yesterday was quite possibly one of the most impactful days of my career.
I tried something new: The Baggage Activity.
I asked my students what it means to “have baggage.” They said it’s the hurtful stuff you carry around on your shoulders. Then I gave them each a piece of paper:
Write down what’s heavy on your heart. What’s hurting you. No names. Just honesty.
They wadded up their papers and threw them across the room.
One by one, they picked up a paper, read it out loud, and I asked: “Who wrote this? Do you want to share?”
And that’s when the floodgates opened.
They shared about suicide. Parents in prison. Drugs. Being abandoned. Death. Cancer. Even the grief of losing pets (one wrote their gerbil died because it was fat—we giggled through the tears).
Some cried as they read. Some cried as they admitted it was their story. The room was heavy, but it was also full of compassion.
By the end of class, I told them:
You are not alone.
You are loved.
We have each other’s backs.
This bag now hangs by my door as a reminder: we all have baggage. But in this classroom, we leave it at the door.
It was emotionally draining—but if it helps my kids judge less, love more, and forgive faster, then it was worth every tear.
I am honored to be their teacher.”
[Karen Wunderlich Loewe]