Jessica Lahey is an educator, writer, and speaker. She has been a middle- and high school teacher of English, Latin, and writing for over a decade. She writes the bi-weekly "Parent-Teacher Conference" advice column for the New York Times Motherlode blog and her work appears regularly in the Atlantic and Vermont Public Radio. Her article, "Why Parents Need to Let Their Children Fail," went viral in early 2013 and became the genesis of her forthcoming book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed.