Small Town News

Education: Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire

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Local schedule set for school pages; editor recalls English teacher that changed his life -- forever

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire, " -- William Butler Yeats.

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and dramatist and one of the most revered figures in early 20th century literature.

Yeats won the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature and can currently be found on the Irish 20-pound bank note.

Those words Yeats expressed above provide for the same feeling the editor has towards education.

The 2010-11 academic calendar has begun in earnest throughout the county.

And we are blessed to live in a community where everyone takes education seriously.

Boyden-Hull superintendent Steve Grond, Western Christian High School principal Glenn Schaap, Trinity Christian High School principal Jim Regnerus and Hull Christian School principal Randy Ten Pas are all strong administrative beacons.

It didn't take long for the editor to realize how education is viewed in the communities of Hull, Boyden, Rock Valley and Doon.

After all, and beginning with the Sept. 8, 2010 edition, the Sioux County Index-Reporter will begin having weekly pages devoted to all of our schools.

New this year to the rotation will be pages for Trinity Christian High School and the Hull Protestant Reformed Christian School.

The reason the editor wanted to add these two schools to the rotation is simple -- this newspaper strives to be inclusionary not exclusionary.

Every school has a story and Trinity Christian and Hull Protestant Reformed Christian are no different.

We want to highlight and acknowledge the accomplishments students from these fine institutions are making in the classroom as well.

The editor is proud to live in a community where four of the five schools teach The Bible and it's place within modern contexts.

(Plus, The Bible is one of the most popular categories on Jeopardy! The "Book" always comes in handy, right?)

As stated, the rotation of school pages will begin in next week's issue with Boyden-Hull Senior/Junior High School.

Here's how the rotation will go, Hull Christian will be featured in the Sept. 15 edition, Boyden-Hull Elementary School on Sept. 22, Western Christian on Sept. 29 and Trinity Christian and Protestant Reformed Christian on Oct. 6, and so on and so forth.

There's one overriding rationale why the

editor has a passion for education.

My high school English teacher, Diane Wolf, had a profound effect on me as a student.

Time to gulp and reveal the misdeeds of my past.

The editor was an attention-getting miscreant during his early high school years. He was born of rage and copious amounts of caffeine.

He yelled louder than Steven Tyler at any one of his Aerosmith concerts. He threw spitballs as fast as Nolan Ryan threw two-seamers. He instigated fights like a hockey goon and he caused hair to go gray on a moment's notice.

However, Wolf saw past such a veneer and looked at my best talents. She knew the editor loved sports and she knew he was a talented writer, perhaps the best in all of Berlin (Conn.) High School.

The editor's senior year at BHS, he began writing for the Berlin By-Line newspaper, scribing a monthly column on national sports and covering his friends in their athletic endeavors.

After such toiling, the editor received the New Britain Herald Book Award and several scholarships.

The editor received a hardcover edition of 1989's "The Good Times, " by satirical and self-critical author Russell Baker. This book was the sequel to Baker's "Growing Up, " written in 1982. It's one of the editor's most prized possessions.

If education is a key, then Wolf helped me unlock the door to a lifetime passion and, ultimately, my personal manifest destiny.

After graduating from BHS in 1990, the editor joined the student newspaper at Central Connecticut State University, the Central Recorder.

He served as sports, entertainment and commentary editor and won a paid internship to work for the famous Baltimore Sun in 1994.

After receiving another important piece of papyrus -- his bachelor's degree from CCSU in 1995 -- it opened up America to him and eventually he'd land in Seattle working for five newspapers at once.

Since then, the editor's work has been featured from coast to coast and border to border. His favorite aspect of journalism is serving readers with news they can use in their daily lives.

He's covered more than 1, 000 high schools. Name someone else who could claim that? They're certainly not living in this area!

Without Wolf, this magical, scripted journey wouldn't have taken place. And without education, the fire with which I write wouldn't be the eternal flame it is today.

Oh, and props to you, too, God, William Butler Yeats and Russell Baker. And even Jimi Hendrix.



Copyright 2010 Sioux County Index-Reporter, Hull, Iowa. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 Sioux County Index-Reporter Hull, Iowa. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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