Building School Character 3

I believe children will flourish if we challenge them. At Curro Century City they must be educated, not to count up the cost of their burger and fries at McDonalds, but to own their own McDonalds. An old story is told of a curious little boy who constantly questioned his grandfather about many things in life. On one particular day he asked his weary grandfather, “What makes the glow worm light up at night?” The grandfather was not sure of the scientific explanation, so his response was simple, “It is the stuff inside of it.” Today’s research explains that glow worms are referred to as fireflies and its unique characteristic is due to the chemical luciferin and the enzyme lucrifase located inside of the insect’s abdomen. So, that grandfather was absolutely correct- The stuff inside of the glow worm caused it to light up! There is a connection we can make from the firefly illustration for our students and ourselves. We have great potential, possibility, and purpose inside of us that needs to come to light. As a school family, we have made great progress in the areas of achievement, the curriculum, and our extra-curricular activities. Our next major focus must centre on developing and nurturing our students’ interests, attitudes, and values. As a school family, we, too share the parents’ responsibility of leaving the right attitudes, values, and qualities. We must recognize the need to light up and stir up the good that is inside of our students. We are moving in the right direction although it may not always seem so. Yet, we need more than solid teaching to ensure our students become responsible as individuals. Our emphasis must be upon character and values, we will have the right stuff to shape positive attitudes and illuminate their total essence. You have the attitudes, you have the values, and you have the light. For those older than any McDonalds in South Africa, remember the words from the song “Shine a little light on me”.