Beech Tree News Network

In the Presidential Proclamation for American Education Week, 2012, the President of the United States said: “All children deserve access to a world-class education and the chance to pursue their dreams. Our schools are a gateway to those opportunities and the key to our Nation's economic prosperity and civic life. This week, we reaffirm our national mission of educating our students and training our workers better than any other country on earth” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/11/09/presidential-procl...).
American Education Week – November 11-17, 2012 – is a time for all Americans to celebrate public education and honor individuals who work to ensure that every child receives a quality education. The weeklong celebration features a special observance each day of the week:
•    Monday, November 12: Veterans Day
•    Tuesday, November 13: Parents Day
•    Wednesday, November 14: Education Support Professionals Day
•    Thursday, November 15: Educator for a Day
•    Friday, November 16: Substitute Educators Day (http://www.nea.org/grants/19823.htm)
Everyone has an opinion about education. Some of those opinions are expressed below:
•    If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. ~Attributed to both Andy McIntyre and Derek Bok
•    Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence. ~Robert Frost
•    There is nothing so stupid as the educated man if you get him off the thing he was educated in. ~Will Rogers
•    Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. ~Roger Lewin
•    Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know. ~Daniel J. Boorstin, Democracy and Its Discontents
•    Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't. ~Pete Seeger
•    You can get all A's and still flunk life. ~Walker Percy
•    My parents told me, "Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving." I tell my daughters, "Finish your homework. People in India and China are starving for your job." ~Thomas L. Friedman

In my family, teaching has been a popular career: my grandmother, my uncle, and two of my daughters chose to become teachers. And, as a former teacher, I have a heart for education and know that most of those who work in education are there to make a difference for children. As President Obama said in the Presidential Proclamation, “During American Education Week, we recommit to keeping the promise of education alive for this generation and the next, because when we give our children the best chance to succeed, there is no telling what they might accomplish.”