Virginia teacher who looks 'at education without rose-colored glasses' writes a book about the classroom

NEW KENT, Va. -- Teaching can be very hard, but also very rewarding.

New Kent teacher turned-author Mike Henrich used to imagine what it was like to live in history to find motivation for his lessons.

"To put ourselves in the shoes of the people who lived the past,” Henrich said.

Henrich attended New Kent schools from kindergarten through 12th grade and started his teaching career there.

What he learned while teaching led him to write the book "Teacher Boy: A Memoir."

"The fundamental splendor that teachers and students can still find through the classroom, in spite of all the outside noise and pressures that all of us face as people," he said.

Through anecdotes from his childhood and teaching career, Henrich said he hoped the book would help teachers and parents, but also takes a hard look at mediocre teachers, layers of bureaucracy, and self-doubt.

"Some parents are having a tough time getting a grip on their young person at home, middle school, and high school if they start to drift away. Sometimes physical or emotionally. The teacher can kind of act as a stopgap," he said.

Henrich said he owed his career and success as an author to one of his New Kent teachers — Ronnie Cox.

"Mike was willing to look at education without the rose-colored glasses and clichés and all the little things that put a smokescreen;” Cox said. “The realities that we face every day in public education."

Mike Henrich is having a book talk and signing at the Heritage Public Library on Invicta Lane in New Kent on Saturday, September 7 from 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.