LIGHTS FOR THE WORLD

"Light in the Dark", oil, by Zack Thurmond

On these dark days of winter, I sometimes think about the light my students will send out to the world as the years pass, and some of that light, I like to think, is being harvested and stored these very days in English class. I see it in their eyes every day -- the light that surfaces when a student sees the truthfulness in a sentence, or when most of a class seems to suddenly understand what Dickens is trying to say in A Tale of Two Cities, or just when a student learns that a considerate comment during a discussion can raise up someone’s day like sunshine raises up spring grass. Room 2 is a workshop and storehouse of light. Little by little, the light in my students’ strong minds and caring hearts grows clearer and more enduring, simply because children’s lights are predestined to shine with greater force and goodness. I just happen to be lucky enough to be present as it happens.