@BowtiePrincipal The start of a new school year is always a wonderful time of the year for me as an educator. I enjoy the thought of learners—young and old—returning to schools across the nation, whether those schools are PreK-12, community colleges, technical schools, trade schools, or four-year baccalaureate universities. These institutions, albeit diverse in mission, varied in vision, and wide ranging in core values, share a common belief in the power of education to transform live lives, lifestyle, and society. The garden of teaching, as I like to all institutions committed to teaching and learning, is a paradise of miracles and wonders that only those who have their inner sight wide open to the importance of teachers may ever recognize. Teachers matter. Students matter. And the relationship between the two—teacher and student—matter most.
I am wishing my fellow educators a successful school year. I leave you with one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite educators, Dr. Leslie Pinckney Hill, the first president of America’s first and oldest HBCU, Cheyney University.
The Teacher
Leslie Pinckney Hill - 1880-1960
Lord, who am I to teach the way
To little children day by day,
So prone myself to go astray?
I teach them KNOWLEDGE, but I know
How faint they flicker and how low
The candles of my knowledge glow.
I teach them POWER to will and do,
But only now to learn anew
My own great weakness through and through.
I teach them LOVE for all mankind
And all God’s creatures, but I find
My love comes lagging far behind.
Lord, if their guide I still must be,
Oh let the little children see
The teacher leaning hard on Thee.
From The Book of American Negro Poetry (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922) edited by James Weldon Johnson. This poem is in the public domain.
Educationally Yours,
Dr. Rashid Faisal
Associate Professor and Department Chair,
Davenport University, College of Urban Education
I am wishing my fellow educators a successful school year. I leave you with one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite educators, Dr. Leslie Pinckney Hill, the first president of America’s first and oldest HBCU, Cheyney University.
The Teacher
Leslie Pinckney Hill - 1880-1960
Lord, who am I to teach the way
To little children day by day,
So prone myself to go astray?
I teach them KNOWLEDGE, but I know
How faint they flicker and how low
The candles of my knowledge glow.
I teach them POWER to will and do,
But only now to learn anew
My own great weakness through and through.
I teach them LOVE for all mankind
And all God’s creatures, but I find
My love comes lagging far behind.
Lord, if their guide I still must be,
Oh let the little children see
The teacher leaning hard on Thee.
From The Book of American Negro Poetry (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922) edited by James Weldon Johnson. This poem is in the public domain.
Educationally Yours,
Dr. Rashid Faisal
Associate Professor and Department Chair,
Davenport University, College of Urban Education