It's Only a Tool!

It's Only a Tool!

I come before you tonight,
Because I wish to make a statement.

I would like to share with you ,
Something I have learned.
Forgotten
Relearned,
Forgotten,
And finally learned again.

That lesson is what is most
Basic to education?


I teach Art
And Computers.

Each of these deciplines
Uses tools.
A brush
A laptop computer

Learning is not the tools
Not the buildings
Not the new pavement

There are those who would like you
To believe that.


What I have learned again in is
It’s the people
The students
The teachers
The parents
It's the people
People being people to and for people.


As a teacher my greatest reward
Is watching the light go on as student grasps an
Idea
Concept
Or realization
Watching that glow rise to a full light
Is what it is about!

As a teacher the next important reward
Is when
A student
A parent
A member of the community
Recognizes you as a good teacher.

I ask you to recognize the teacher of
Coalinga/Huron with BRL

Take away
The tools
The buildings
The pavement
And I can still teach.

Take away the rewards
And you take away my soul
An I am nothing.

I ask you!
Think of people
Not things

Think of education
Not castles.