For students who sense no fluidity between their academic context and their personal contexts, what's at stake is more than just their scholastic achievement--rather, their development as individual agents who exist in larger social and historical contexts is jeopardized. When teachers and schools neglect to recognize the legitimacy of multiple literacies, students lack more than a sustaining motivation to do well in school: they also lack the encouragement to develop a driving vision and purpose for their lives. Introducing students to a range of texts and literacies is the responsible and necessary option if they are to become productive members in a society that is increasingly asking for this type of proficiency. In this article, the author evaluates the potential impact multiple literacies have on students' futures in school and eventually in life and the workplace and describes a number of ways in which teachers can incorporate multiple literacies into the classroom.