Opening doors welcome each child
Fascinating journey begins
Dreams fill with imagination
School days become future’s lynchpin
Strengthening character daily
Teaching life lessons, step-by-step
Entire village backs up each child
Honesty leads every footstep
Molding citizenship’s actions
Interacting with nation’s past
History’s events come alive
Participation built to last
Learning importance of service
Applying every faithful task
Life’s foundation now taking shape
Hands no longer afraid to ask
Displaying acts of leadership
Maturing into country’s best
Actions go far beyond just words
Ready now, to pass every test
Big Sky Buckeye 
Timely post as many get ready to graduate and step into new challenges. I honestly don’t know if I would send my children to public school these days, though. As a former teacher in the public schools, I have seen the change and they are not always just educating our children as they should; rather, they are indoctrinating and mind-shaping. It’s very sad and I hope that our precious younger generation can overcome it.
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Vickie, thank you for sharing these thoughts. My wife and I recently attended our grandson’s induction into National Honor Society. I used four of their pillars in the poem. I understand your concerns with public education. I try to stay involved through conversations with two of my daughters who are teachers of elementary music and middle school language arts, respectively.
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I’m glad that you passed on the baton for love of learning to your daughters. I applaud any public school teacher who is a Christian and staying in place because I know from experience that it isn’t easy. God bless them and their mission fields.
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Vickie, thank you for your kind words. Both of my teacher daughters are Christians, and the Lord continues to guide them. When I was teaching at a Columbus, OH middle school during my last nine years, I was blessed to have a relationship with a colleague who as a Christian.
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I think you must’ve been a wonderful teacher, Richard. I also believe that teaching should be a joint effort between parents and teachers. It truly begins in the home. Parents who set down rules and responsibilities will have more successful students. Teachers can add to their knowledge, but parents provide what is truly needful.
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Kathy, your words are very kind. While I am proud of teaching for 40 years, I am even prouder, as a parent, of my three daughters. Their success can be traced to a loving home with a quiet, nurturing spirit.
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I loved grade school. The relationships among teachers, administrators, and parents were healthy: open and focused on the well-being of us children. Parent-teacher conferences — with students present — took place twice a year, and four times a year we brought home our report cards for parents’ signatures. One year, a classmate who’d not done so well in a couple of subjects “lost” his report card. What followed was a reminder to us all not to try such tricks!
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Linda, thanks for sharing these memories. My dad was a high school teacher and coach, and he stressed discipline at home and at school. My mom ran a pretty tight ship filled with six children.
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this is the second term of our schooling year but obviously your graduation time … thanks for your timely injection of positive and right attitude 🙂
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The poem was inspired from witnessing our grandson’s induction into his high school’s National Honor Society. Several pillars of this group were included in the poem’s theme.
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ah you have such a different system there
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