THE PRIORITY LIST: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Lessons (Book Review)

Need a little inspiration and feel like you should get your priorities straight again?  You might want to learn a lesson from David Manasche, a former high school English teacher at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami.  He wrote ‘THE PRIORITY LIST: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons” after traveling the country to see if, well, if he made a difference.

He traveled more than 8,000 miles, to more than 30 cities, throughout more than 100 days of travels. He visited 11 states and reconnected with more than seventy-five students.  That was all with partial blindness and paralysis.

You see, Menasche  was THAT teacher who you adored in high school…the one who respected you as an individual, who listened when you spoke, who wanted to do more than get you in and out of his class.  He wanted to matter to his students, and to let them know they mattered.  He didn’t let the fact that he had brain cancer slow him down.

The title of the book is inspired by one of his favorite classroom lessons.  The “Priority List” asked students to rank, in order of importance to them, each of ten words (including the following words: wealth, respect, love, strength and education). Prioritizing each term helped him understand each student, and could help you understand what matters most to you.

The book, no doubt, will move you, as Menasche takes you on his final quest to discover life’s greatest lessons.  You might learn something, too.