A request--

I have been spending time with a fine young man-- he's just entered 8th grade and is interested in so many things. He's taught me lots about cows (his have a pedigree and he shows them at the county fair), told me about his scouting badges and camping, and the basketball and baseball teams that he follows.

And he finds math pretty challenging. As he told me very quietly and earnestly as we were working on a math problem sometime back --"I really want to do better." My quick equally quiet reply-- "I never thought you didn't." --and my heart sank a bit because that comment seemed to indicate a number of folks had indicated to him they didn't.

As school has begun again, he's excited and more organized. He wants to have a good year.

I really hope his teachers and the teachers of so many other youngsters for whom school can be a challenge in so many ways have had an opportunity to read Bud Hunt's letter to teachers that has popped up every year since its orginal posting in 2008. I hope they'll consider his request:

"I ask you to be brave and humble and kind and tenacious and wise and caring and gentle and fierce. We so need you to do well."

And I hope his teachers and all teachers will consider Zoe Weill's call for a humane and relevant education :

"...our children will no longer be bored when the eagerness to learn is fed by an education that is meaningful and relevant to their own lives and to the gorgeous, incredible world they will one day inherit. Their enthusiasm, nourished and nurtured by schooling that matters and excites, will lead inexorably to knowledge and skills that will help solve the global challenges we face and create a world where we can all survive and thrive."

When Bud's hopes for teachers and Zoe's call for relevant learning are heeded, a fine young man--all our students-- will realize their worth and find their place in our everchanging global world. They deserve no less. Don't you think?