Lessons from school

Once upon a time a man decided to teach school. He began the year with enthusiasm, but there were some students who didn’t like him and began to disrupt things. Every day they would do such things as hide the markers, put molasses on the teacher’s chair, or snicker and wisecrack in the back of the room. They even made up and spread rumors about their teacher around the school. His efforts to discipline the kids were limited by their “rights.” Nevertheless, the teacher kept on with his lessons, even taking no pay, and worked to keep a positive attitude.

When the flu hit the school, several students and some teachers became ill, and this teacher rounded up extra cots for the nurse’s room. Weeks went by, and the disruptive students did not turn in their homework assignments and didn’t seem to care about their grades. By the end of the school year, the difficult students were failing and complained to their parents that their teacher was to blame; he should be replaced because he was “ineffective as a leader,” they claimed. Is there a lesson here?

Kathy Berrigan

Kettle Falls