Perhaps it is because of my position as an educator and principal of the high school, but I am often asked, :Is the future going to be okay? Will the students be able to provide a decent future for us?” I suppose they think that I have the answer because I work so closely with the citizens of tomorrow.

            Well, I don’t have any hard or fast answer, because there are no easy answers to the problems of the world.  All I’ve been able to do is to let them know how I feel.

            Over the course of my lifetime, I have had the privilege of working with many young men and women. I was their teacher and their administrator. I dealt with their problems, shared their triumphs, and watched them learn, develop, and grow.

            I have dealt with students who have made poor choices; and I have dealt with students who have made the right choice.  I have seen students who breeze through school; and I have seen students struggle through a torturous school career. I have met students bursting with health; and I have met students who were so ill they could not hold on to a pencil. I have dealt with students I would not turn my back on.  I feel like I’ve dealt with them all.

            And the one thing I’ve come to understand is that there is hope for the future.  That along with all the fear there is also courage and hope.  I have seen courage and read the hope of the future in their faces.  Yes, there have been moments of failure, but the moments of triumph outnumber the bad times.

            So yes, I believe in the future of our students.  I have been privileged to live and work with those who will make up that future and the vast majority of students have filled me with joy and hope.  They have convinced me that tomorrow will be the best that humanity can make of it.

            I have been in education all of my life, and I would not change that for the world.