A bird doesnít sing because it has an answer, it sings because it
has a song. óMaya Angelou
I do not necessarily have a song, but I also do not have
an answer. The one thing I do know is that I like to sing.
I learned how to sing from my mom because she sang all
the time.
Later, when I went to school, Mrs. Evelyn Bain taught me
more about singing.
I never sang solo (except one time in church a couple of
years ago). I mostly sang with the school choir.
But the only reason I ever sang was not because I had an
answer, but because I had a song.
There has been a lot of talk, dispute and negativity
lately about the Eagle Valley School District.
I do not have an answer to the questions, the problems,
the negativity, but I do have a dream (a song actually, because I think
all aspects of life should be put to music).
It has been said that a building does not educate, that
the teachers and the curriculum educate.
Thatís true. A building in and of itself does nothing
except sit in a mostly stationary position. So a building does not really
educateóor does it?
I think that a building can become a living, breathing
part of our lives. It can evoke responses from us from joy to tears. It
can make us think, it can make us feel. It can embarrass us or make us
proud. Those are not things that a truly inanimate object can do.
The buildings which are Eagle Valleyís school buildings
are in the business of education, that is what they were built for. Not
for any other purpose.
They were not built to house the elderly or to hold the
workings of a factory. They were designed and built to house students and
to, within those structures, educate.
If it takes one building or two to educate our young
people, then that is what it will take. As I have already said, I do not
have an answer, I only have a song.
I can envision the potential beauty of the buildings. I
am not so blind that I cannot see beyond the functions of my own mind.
I can also know the pride that comes from having a nice
building.
While not everyone can understand why what a building
looks like matters, I can. I appreciate the aesthetics of nature as well
as those of man-made structures.
There are big things the Eagle Valley School and Board
of Education must do in the coming months and years to keep our district
alive, but we cannot forget our responsibility in this situation.
We are the taxpayers and our voices will be heard and
while nobody wants to pay more taxes, sometimes paying more to keep what
we have is worth it.
I do have a song (dream), but for the time being I am
keeping that a secret. However, should you listen close, you might hear me
humming it or even singing a few stanzas from time to time.
No, I do not have an answer, but I do have a song and so
does this district and the students who have attended here and will attend
in the future.
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