New School Year Begins

Picture it this way: If a doctor, lawyer or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn’t want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher’s job. 

That is how Donald D. Quinn described what begins afresh in classrooms across the Vineyard as they open for a new school year next week.

Maybe in tears or, maybe, parents hope, cheerfully taking their place on tiny chairs, some children will be arriving for their first day at Big School. Others, who sat on those same tiny chairs an impossibly short time ago, will take to their desks for their last first day of school on the Vineyard, likely to spend their school year making decisions about college or the job market. Some will come reluctantly, others confidently. Almost all will find the hour comes too early — though for those high school football and lacrosse players who already have been through training “hell week,” first period is a refreshingly late start.

Regardless, the hours these students spend at Vineyard schools, in the care of Vineyard teachers, will play a large role in shaping their lives years from now. A teacher’s influence, good or bad, lasts a lifetime; they teach our children and in some ways our children’s children. Someone is teaching a future President, someone is nurturing the creativity of a boy or girl who will become a Pulitzer prize winner, someone will inform the ethics of a future leader of an investment bank, spark the scientific curiosity of a Nobel scientist, or develop the diplomacy and compassion of a peacemaker, the strategic thinking of an entrepreneur.

It is a cliche that democracy depends on teachers because it is true. In a rapidly changing world, as infotainment personalities tout their own “universities,” it becomes harder and harder to maintain an independent and deep-thinking citizenry. As so much media presents less than the whole story, it is up to each of us to make sure we know when our facts are facts. Recognizing the facts, and developing the ability to analyze them, is critical to making sure the country has a place in a world of shifting power balances, and in making sure that world is one that is just for all.

Today’s kids know their way around high-tech gadgets and feel personally involved with strangers they see on television or know only from social media, but the nation needs them to be educated more broadly. We need people who understand math and science and who understand history and multiple languages. It is the job of parents, of course, to ensure our children understand the difference between humble honesty and celebrity hypocrisy, but children are also influenced greatly by the community at large, and teachers specifically. As parents, students and teachers make this fresh start in a never-ending process, wish them all luck.