Porter-Starke Services has embraced the model set forth in the international project, This I Believe, to inspire our community towards health, balance and hope. With the assistance of the non-profit This I Believe organization, Porter-Starke Service invites YOU, our community, to participate! We're calling this local event "The Inspiration Project: Stories that Strengthen Us."
Written by Paul of Knox, IN
This I believe.
I believe in Education, a place where children are introduced to the world of social interaction and individual creativity, historical possibilities and probabilities as well as the intellectual fundamentals. These are the paths that our world has come to rely upon as a thoroughfare to adulthood.
The earliest recollection of mine was playing a part in a class room reenactment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. I played a Native Indian Guide working for the expedition, it had me standing in front of the entire class and acting out a historical event. I learned many things and had the time of my life.
However, for all the wonderful benefits that we as a community receive from having a local school system. There are hundreds maybe even thousands of children across the country who slip through the cracks, who are cheated the life long enduring experience and confidence building of a solid education. I was a child that slipped through the cracks, I had to attend about 12 different schools in 12 years, due to a broken family an angry personality and a school system that was unable to do anything more than watch from the bleachers.
No longer was I able to get to a point of being able to open up to a potential mentor, such as a teacher or librarian or even a school bus driver and I was on the move again.
I won't tell you that I was a perfect angel as a child. Nor will I tell you that, the failures in my life are due to my broken childhood. I will only say that based on my experience I wonder if those children who are slipping through the cracks feel as though they are being cheated.
Recently I've been worried about the school system, with all the cutbacks and high expectations. I wonder if teachers even feel that they have something that's worth learning and if each student is worth teaching. I want them to work to impact my child if only for a day, because that may be the only time they have with them. You have no control of their family life, however you have them for the moment, and I know a person can be influenced for a lifetime in a moment.
I don't want my children to be cheated out of a solid education and I know it will take a school system that won't "Quit". I need you to be the inspiration for my children to play explorers, visit the bottom of the ocean, calculate the complexities of HDTV and the courage to reach for the stars. "Please don't give up on My Children" You have something that's worth learning and my kids are worth teaching.
Thousands of people have accepted the invitation to write their own statements of personal belief. You are invited to do the same by joining The Inspiration Project, a local opportunity to set pen to paper and share your story! Join us and together we can inspire one another through words, further strengthening the health, balance and hope of our community. To start your essay, visit the Essay Guidelines page.