I see a lot in my role. I see the challenges our students face on a daily basis. I see those who have confidence and those who lack it. I see how some have the inner strength to handle criticism and failure, where others still need to develop strength from struggle. I see parents who are quick to intervene when their children fail and others who allow them to fall and get back up.
I think the following poem by Douglas Malloch is noteworthy, because he essentially says that the tree that never had to fight for the sun, the sky, the air and the light never became a forest king.
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
Good timber does not grow with ease. It’s hard to watch our kids fail, and we are there to provide a guiding hand for when they face the wind and the storm: in sports, in school, with friends, whenever. The more we can support them and help them learn from failure, and handle the challenges of sun and wind and rain and snow, we can most assuredly guarantee we are fostering the right environment for good timber to grow.
I hope you have a great month of February.
Garrett Rogowski is superintendent for the Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District.
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