Teachers Victoria Soto, Rachel Davino, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, and school administrators Mary Sherlach and Dawn Hochsprung, all perished when an insane shooter rampaged through the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 12, 2012. The adults died defending their students.  They were posthumously awarded the 2012 Citizen Medal, which recognizes individual’s “exemplary deeds or services for his or her country or fellow citizens.” Victoria Soto photo REX USA BY SARA HAMMEL AND MIKE FLEEMAN

“One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.”  Malala Yousafzai