The Importance of Education to the Children

School an institution, a building, a safe haven, and a learning place bursting with education to teach our young people. With teachers who are devoting their entire life into providing a sound foundation and opening new horizons to broaden their minds with a world of knowledge.

School a place where parents or guardians send their most prized possession, their children, to learn. School alone cannot bring about the educational results we need, parents must take more responsibility and interest. All children are capable of learning and no child should be permitted to fail, as an old proverb said: "It takes the whole village to raise a child.” Together the results will be rewarding.

"Excellence in education is possible today if we teach our students to read, write, understand the written word, master standard English, appreciate hard work, have self-respect and respect for others, seek values, and shun crass materialism.” (Alexander, P4)

Learning is more than books, materials, and facts, it's a process that comes with time. Values are also important factors of learning and of life. Respect is one of those values. To understand that there may be more than one way to do something well. Respect is remembering that all living things are part of nature. Respect is honoring wisdom that comes with age. Respect is accepting differences in people. "Perhaps it is time to start swinging the pendulum back toward an emphasis on responsibility, and wisdom.” (Ebel, P1)

Our schools are competing with the outside world to make school interesting. There are many things that lure the attention away from schoolwork, such as, television, drugs, sex, computers, high-tech toys, and adolescent culture. Bruckner believes school should be a place where adolescents feel at home, a place that they might want to come to even if they didn't have to go. Bruckner has tried to accomplish this by harnessing non-traditional means to the raditional academic goals. The bright students have no ceiling on their ambitions to learn and to succeed. All the students bright, average, or below average, should have a strong basic curriculum available and a diversity of learning opportunities; which will allows them to learn at their own pace and all students regardless of race or religion should be treated equally.

"President Clinton stated "When I became president, one of the things that really bothered me was that our country was the only advanced economy in the world that didn't have an organized system to make sure that every student...who didn't go on to college at least had a chance to continue their education by blending school and work. We call it now school-to-work opportunities.” (Clinton, P1) Many students are not college bound, we need to get serious and direct them into vocations, which would be enjoyable to them and benefit our Nation.

"Teachers”, how do we describe this human being? He or she must be intelligent, personable, motivated, creative, dedicated, and gifted all rolled into one.

We as 2000 educators need to provide more than facts and figures we need to show compassion and love for our students. What we are and what we believe can make the difference in how we project ourselves