Column

Dave Claborn
June, 2007

Time travel was standard fare for the science fiction I read as a teenager. The concept of traveling from here to some point in the future or past sparked the imaginations of several generations. You know the plot. Step into the time machine and be transported to adventures that await in the future or to fix a problem from the past. Little did I know then that I would have such an opportunity when I was somewhat past (okay, well past) my teenage years. It happened during Rotary Reading Day May 17th.

As one of the many Rotarians who sign up to read to a fifth grade class somewhere in the city or county schools, my assignment was Miss Lust’s class at George Washington Elementary in the Marion City school system. It was just after lunch. The air was still and redolent of pre-pubescent youth. The potential was ripe for boredom and drowsiness.

The typical drill involves reading a short piece to the class, telling them about yourself, then engaging them in discussion about their aspirations and the importance of a college education as a means of realizing those dreams. A primary objective is to help kids understand what college is and that higher education is attainable, even for those who may be first generation college students. The presence of Ohio State at Marion and Marion Technical College, as well as the generous financial aid available, especially to good students from Marion County, means college is attainable for nearly any Marion County student, if they apply themselves in their earlier years.

So it was in Miss Lust’s class, chatting with her fifth graders, that I was transported to the future. As the discussion moved along and I asked the kids about their plans for the future, the energy level increased. The classroom itself became the time machine, infused with the energy of millions of sparking synapses as 25 young minds imagined what they might accomplish in the years ahead.

We talked about inventions. One young lady could barely keep her arm in its socket as she strained to be recognized. The ideas for new devices fairly sprang from her mind in a torrent of words—explanations for the machines she would build. Another young man somewhat shyly displayed a piece of artwork he’d created that could pass for professional commercial art. I met a future veterinarian and a budding doctor. We talked about Einstein and the just-published biography of him now in bookstores and libraries. I met future automotive engineers, business leaders, teachers. We discussed the definition of being rich—how it’s not just, or even most significantly, about money, but about living fully, being engaged, making a difference.

The hour was over too quickly. My adrenaline was pumping and my head was spinning from the ride I’d just taken buoyed on the imaginations of 25 fifth graders. I saw the future—and it’s a bright one. Our challenge, back here in “today,” is to encourage and develop and focus those imaginations. We do that through art and music and academics. We do that with quality teachers and school systems that are enthusiastic and engaging, not distracted and struggling to survive. We have those systems today, but they need support and nurturing.

The raw material is here, in the young minds begging to be engaged in Miss Lust’s classroom—and, I suspect, in most other classrooms around the city and county. Our challenge is to tap that potential and not let it be wasted in defeatism, drugs, alcohol or mediocre education. Those young minds, freed to reach their potential, will provide all the economic development we can handle in this community. The reward for our nurturing will be far greater than any cost we might bear today.

  Printer Friendly Version