Kagol and I have been friends ever since. Reflecting on the role of the community as a value setter, Kagol mused: I remember I had one kid who plagiarized a poem for The Mandela [the high school literary arts magazine] and we published it, not knowing it was plagiarized, and found out after, and when we took him to the principal he told that student: “You have disrespected what this teacher stood for.” I knew the principal would back me up no matter what the situation, and I had no worry that a parent would call up and ask for my head if I chastised their child. There was a community respect
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