 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Education
Robert C. Byrd: A Lifelong Student
For many West Virginians, and certainly for me, education has been the key to opening doors to opportunity throughout life. While a formal education may start at pre-school and end with a college degree for most, learning never ends. For me, my education may have started in a small two-room schoolhouse, but it continues to this day. In the hills of West Virginia. In the halls of Congress. In quiet mediation. At each turn, I am always striving to learn. For I believe that, both for me personally and for our state, education is the passport to progress.
I am a proud graduate of Raleigh County's Mark Twain High School. My graduating class of 1934 was small by modern standards -- only 28 students. On the sight where Mark Twain High was stood proud and tall, all that remains is a flight of crumbling concrete steps leading to the place where the front doors admitted lines of eager students. Ironweed and redbud saplings have sprung up on the ground where once the principal ruled supreme and teachers explained the fundamentals of algebraic equations, the mysteries of science, and the finer points of grammar.
While so many things about schools today have changed drastically since those halcyon days at Mark Twain, many things remain the same. We still need conscientious teachers and dedicated students. A strong educational system relies on the quality contribution of both the faculty and the student body. While the gift of intelligence may be planted upon birth, it requires cultivation to bloom into culture and wisdom. It is the inspiring teacher and dedicated student, who, together, possess the magic to make brilliance.
Now, more than ever, we need parents who are willing to take an active role in their children's lives, monitor their behavior, and provide much-needed guidance in a difficult age. I was fortunate. Although my parents were uneducated and financially poor, they were able to instill in me a love of learning, a deep desire to excel, a sense of responsibility, and a love of God and his teachings. If my mom and pap, those two poorly-educated, financially-strapped souls, could impart those life-enrichment lessons to me, why can we not, as a rich nation, will all of our collective experience in motivating human beings, impart those lessons to today's youth? We must try, and we must succeed.
West Virginia, like every state, continues to face a number of challenges in the effort to provide the best possible education for our children. Improving education is not merely a matter of throwing more money in the education pot, or trying the latest gimmick, or lowering standards so that all students can devolve to the lowest common denominator. It is a matter of getting back to basics, instituting real discipline, making schools safe, setting high standards, and encouraging excellence. It will require all of us -- elected officials, educators, business and civil leaders, parents, and students -- to reach our goal.
Heraclitus, who lived from around 540 to 480 B.C. observed, "Nothing endures but change." Likewise, the enduring test of any organized human endeavor is to try to ride the wind of change, anticipate its twists and turns, harness it for the general good and marshal one's resources to take advantage of its speed and energy. Education is critical to that effort. It starts at a young age, but never stops. With knowledge combined with drive, with experience melded with innovation, we can successfully meet the challenges of change. And when we do, all the West Virginians will benefit.
For many West Virginians, and certainly for me, education has been the key to opening doors to opportunity throughout life. While a formal education may start at pre-school and end with a college degree for most, learning never ends. For me, my education may have started in a small two-room schoolhouse, but it continues to this day. In the hills of West Virginia. In the halls of Congress. In quiet mediation. At each turn, I am always striving to learn. For I believe that, both for me personally and for our state, education is the passport to progress.
I am a proud graduate of Raleigh County's Mark Twain High School. My graduating class of 1934 was small by modern standards -- only 28 students. On the sight where Mark Twain High was stood proud and tall, all that remains is a flight of crumbling concrete steps leading to the place where the front doors admitted lines of eager students. Ironweed and redbud saplings have sprung up on the ground where once the principal ruled supreme and teachers explained the fundamentals of algebraic equations, the mysteries of science, and the finer points of grammar.
While so many things about schools today have changed drastically since those halcyon days at Mark Twain, many things remain the same. We still need conscientious teachers and dedicated students. A strong educational system relies on the quality contribution of both the faculty and the student body. While the gift of intelligence may be planted upon birth, it requires cultivation to bloom into culture and wisdom. It is the inspiring teacher and dedicated student, who, together, possess the magic to make brilliance.
Now, more than ever, we need parents who are willing to take an active role in their children's lives, monitor their behavior, and provide much-needed guidance in a difficult age. I was fortunate. Although my parents were uneducated and financially poor, they were able to instill in me a love of learning, a deep desire to excel, a sense of responsibility, and a love of God and his teachings. If my mom and pap, those two poorly-educated, financially-strapped souls, could impart those life-enrichment lessons to me, why can we not, as a rich nation, will all of our collective experience in motivating human beings, impart those lessons to today's youth? We must try, and we must succeed.
West Virginia, like every state, continues to face a number of challenges in the effort to provide the best possible education for our children. Improving education is not merely a matter of throwing more money in the education pot, or trying the latest gimmick, or lowering standards so that all students can devolve to the lowest common denominator. It is a matter of getting back to basics, instituting real discipline, making schools safe, setting high standards, and encouraging excellence. It will require all of us -- elected officials, educators, business and civil leaders, parents, and students -- to reach our goal.
Heraclitus, who lived from around 540 to 480 B.C. observed, "Nothing endures but change." Likewise, the enduring test of any organized human endeavor is to try to ride the wind of change, anticipate its twists and turns, harness it for the general good and marshal one's resources to take advantage of its speed and energy. Education is critical to that effort. It starts at a young age, but never stops. With knowledge combined with drive, with experience melded with innovation, we can successfully meet the challenges of change. And when we do, all the West Virginians will benefit.
