Learning to fly—with the right kind of help
"The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards." — Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924)
Joe was two years old and his question was simple: "Can I fly?"
An experiment was called for. Joe crawled up on the saddle of his red Radio Flyer tricycle—the kind with the seat well above the 12-inch front wheel, not some low-slung plastic Big Wheel where the rider is barely above ground—stood to his full height, spread his arms over the concrete patio, turned his face to the heavens and said "To infinity, and beyond."
Results, fortunately, were inconclusive. At that moment, his mother looked through the patio door from the kitchen and acted quickly to avert disaster.
Kids are born curious, but need guidance. Real education cultivates that curiosity and channels it into lifelong interests. Real teachers are life savers.
Education comes from many sources: books, conversations, classrooms, pulpits, mailboxes and the Internet. Teachers have many faces: parents, professional educators, pastors and friends.
Each year 14,000 people across the Valley and around the country get an education from the FPU Office of Continuing Education. Few of these students will meet their teachers and fewer still will visit campus. Yet since most are educators themselves, what they learn will reverberate for generations and their instructors will influence unseen classrooms and school districts.
Joe may or may not learn to fly, but the right kind of education and the right kind of teaching throughout life will help his spirit soar.