You can't say you can't play

Lenny Levine died yesterday at 67.

He was the greatest kindergarten teacher ever.

Lenny taught kids two things:

He taught them how to learn. He understood that kindergarten wasn't third grade for little kids. It was an important step in beginning the process of becoming someone who could learn without stress, forever.

And he taught them this motto, "You can't say you can't play." It was a mantra about inclusion and openness and it let kids understand that what you thought about someone yesterday didn't really matter if they had something to contribute today.

I'll miss Lenny. But the world (all of us) will benefit from what he taught for a long time to come.