Teacher Without Arms Mary Gannon Tells Students “Don’t Give Up”

Mary Gannon was born without arms. She now works as a math tutor at a middle school in the Lakewood school district west of Cleveland.

Screenshot / Lakewood Patch

Mary Gannon works at Harding Middle School in the Lakewood school district.

Her students say she can do everything a “regular” teacher can do, Lakewood Patch reports. She uses her toes to write on white boards, handout papers and type.

Gannon tells Patch she uses her own life as a lesson about the value of persistence and perseverance for her students:

“I’m doing what I wanted to do, what i love to do. And if you set your mind to whatever you want to do and you love to do then — go for it — no one can stop you.”

Here’s Patch’s video of Gannon teaching: