YARMOUTH, Maine — A Maine community is stepping up to help a teacher who dedicates her free time to helping others.
Sarah Norsworthy is a 4th-grade teacher who has been volunteering at the Portland Expo this summer, assisting the youngest of the asylum seekers.
Her car was vandalized this week.
Instead of reacting in a way many of us probably would, she decided to use it as a teachable moment.
"The message is simple, asylum-seeking is legal."
It's a message Sarah Norsworthy hoped would stick for others. Instead, sticky super glue now covers the back windshield of her car and a message she wrote when she was feeling frustrated.
"This is incredibly sad," she said. "I'm frustrated by the lack of empathy and understanding and so as a teacher, my agenda is always education."
She has spent much of her summer volunteering at the Portland Expo, helping children and their parents seeking asylum get acclimated to a new way of life.
"This is what happens when you stand up and speak your truth and you have to be prepared for how people respond," said Norsworthy.
Now, her outreach efforts extend beyond the walls of the emergency shelter.
"The message here is not that people are terrible, it's that we have more work to do from an educational standpoint."
Norsworthy says her focus is starting a conversation with anyone willing.
"This is in no way a 'this is what I think' this is an invitation to a conversation."
She believes understanding can be reached by way of education and despite the mess of glue in her rearview, she's looking forward.
"People [also] respond like this morning with offers like, 'can I come detail your car for you?'"
Norsworthy has received offers to help remove the glue, free of charge. She will continue to keep the message on her car.