Schools Count - 'Bootstraps'

This blog has been going on for years sometimes discussing issues important to students and teachers alike and, at times, discussing the larger issues impacting education and our society at large. I have often been tempted to record my experiences and those that have impacted the good people affiliated with Schools Count in some sort of manner.

Not so long ago it occurred to me that perhaps the best way to describe those events that have shaped my life after teaching - some thirteen years ago - was to both recount said events and pass them along to you. So periodically (hopefully more days each week than not) I will attempt to recall those special occasions and to provide you with insights that have both shaped my life and given me renewal.

This gets me to the word 'Bootstraps.' Many of us have been indoctrinated with the term 'pick yourselves up by your bootstraps.' I certainly remember being told to do so in my early childhood. This journey, in my capacity as President of Schools Count Corp., has afforded me with the opportunity to call upon some inner strength to 'pick myself.'

But I have also come in contact with students in regions devastated by tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes were bootstraps have perished. I, and our charity, have also worked in impoverished areas - schools - were, those same resources/bootstraps don't exist.

I'm looking forward to engaging you in recalling just what this journey has entailed.

Thanks,
Dick