We’re Gonna Win

As we prepare for the start of a new semester, we hope this poem by Professor Lewin will inspire you to win.  This what we do.

“FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION”

by Dr. Arthur Lewin

 

Tell me, how is it possible 

We can land a man on the moon

Send probes way, way out of the solar system 

Spy on worlds impossibly distant in space and time 

Produce the greatest network of universities, by far

But we can’t teach Johnny, Jamal and Jose to read?  

 

Ignore those foolish, well paid, empty suits 

Droning on about the failure of our schools 

As if it’s a problem they really  intend to solve.   

 

Just as a people will have only as much tyranny as they will tolerate, 

We’ll only have as much ignorance as we have a mind to put up with.  

As in all things, it is up to us, the People, to set things straight. 

 

Talk sense to any youngster within range.

Tell them about the stars in the heavens 

And the ants in the grass. 

Tell them about the brain 

And its hemispheres 

And all the stories 

You have heard

Over the years.

 

Give them books about whatever they like. 

Introduce them to biographies of athletes

Or romance novels or science fiction tales. 

 

And when you watch the ballgame with them 

Tell them why you see the man hit the ball 

Long before you hear the crack of the bat.  

Show them how batting averages, ERAs 

And shooting percentages are made.  

 

Write them stories and musings, and make it a point to ask 

What have they written, or would like to put on the page.

Take them to the bookstore and the library 

And read the newspapers together. 

 

Open the door to knowledge 

Please, don’t believe the hype!  

Like kids all around the world 

They have a great thirst to learn. 

Try and slake it, but you can’t. 

For knowledge is a hunger

That grows the more 

That it is stoked.