Kerry Graham
Kerry Graham writes regular essays as part of The Baltimore Banner's Creatives in Residence program, which amplifies the work of community artists and writers from the Baltimore region. Kerry lives, teaches, writes, and kayaks in Southeast Baltimore. Her vignettes — true, tiny stories about teaching — have been published in numerous literary journals. She shares her experiences with anxiety, body image, and self-compassion in her personal essays, some of which have appeared in HuffPost. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Education, Kerry is grateful for the laughter she and her students (or, as she calls them, her lovelies) share daily.
The latest from Kerry
Commentary: Book banners are cowards afraid of social change
Book banners are highly organized and loud, but we can defend our right to read.
Letter: When the student becomes the teacher
Kerry Graham doesn't have kids, but feels like a grandma now that her former students are becoming teachers and have students of their own.
Commentary: It was already hard for teachers. Then Trump took office.
Students are expected to thrive even as the federal government has instituted hundreds of millions of dollars in education cuts.
Commentary: A former teacher raising her voice for the undocumented
Former teacher Kerry Graham once taught immigrant students, now she protests in solidarity with them.
Commentary: Audiobooks get me through the tough times
Because I know the cost of not taking proactive care of myself during the worst of times, I’ve promised myself never to let that happen again. I’m now relentless in my self-soothing; if what I’m doing isn’t working, I adapt.
I am a white woman voting for Kamala Harris. But that isn’t enough.
I finally understand that I owe my country more than my single vote. I owe it my time and effort to impact other voters, says former teacher Kerry Graham.
Commentary: Let’s choose a teacher as our next vice president
I was excited when presidential candidate Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz, once a teacher, as her running mate. As a former teacher myself, I instinctively trust educators.
When I was a student, school shootings were rare. As a teacher, they were expected.
School shootings have become more widespread and expected across America than in previous generations.
Can I complain about gun violence when I am not doing enough to stop it?
For far too long, I’ve been a hypocrite, expecting action and change from others with no effort of my own.
I don’t want kids. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance’s comments about women who don’t have children insults their right to make choices about their own lives.
I went back to the classroom after a mental health break. It wasn’t what I expected.
Former teacher Kerry Graham went back to the classroom as a tutor and realized that healing is not linear but complicated and disorienting.
Grieving my brother and the Key Bridge
Kerry Graham on taking the time to grieve, even when others have moved on.
Commentary: Why book bans are dangerous
Kerry Graham argues that restricting books limits our access to think for ourselves.
Commentary: I am not yet looking ahead in 2024 — and that’s OK
Before I launch myself into what’s next, I need to look back at how major life challenges changed not just my realities, but also my priorities.
When grief doesn’t take a holiday
I don’t put Christmas decorations up this year. Nor do I dread the day itself. I just want it to slip by, a whisper of whatever it will be — horrible or even happy.
Reflecting on the 11th anniversary of Sandy Hook
A former teacher remembers what it was like being in the classroom a week after 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012.
Books can help us all understand each other better
Research speaks to what I’ve been lucky enough to witness and personally enjoy again and again. Reading books gives us glimpses into the lives of strangers, makes us more empathetic.
Slow his feet: How a former teacher helped one student
Former teacher Kerry Graham helps coach a student through his anxiety about confronting others.
For the first time I won’t be in the classroom for the start of school
Because I recently made the difficult decision to leave teaching, this will be one of the few times in my life that I won’t be in the classroom to feel the back-to-school inspiration.
Why have children when I have my lovelies?
How one woman handles the awkward question about wanting children.
