Nick Jimenez

Sunday, October 22, 2000

Building the future

I envy the work that teachers do. I don't envy the long hours teachers have to put in. Nor do I relish the hall monitoring, the cafeteria watching, or, unfortunately in this undisciplined age, the disruptive and the uncaring student teachers must deal with.
   So why do teachers continue to do their job year in and year out for pay that won't put them in the top tax brackets? It's no surprise: it is the continual refreshment of being around bright and curious young people.
   I get what amounts to a small sample of that renewal each year by my involvement in this newspaper's high school student recognition program, the South Texas Distinguished Scholar program.
   Hundreds of students are nominated for recognition by their high schools each year. Some students, as selected by panels of judges, receive scholarships. But what's important here is that the program presents a cross-section of the vibrancy of our young people.
   It is easy to feel good about our future reading about so many good students doing so many good things for their schools and for their community. The optimism and confidence of these students are an antidote to the pessimism and small-mindedness that too often surrounds us.
   Some students have overcome tremendous obstacles just to stay in school. Others are doing academic work in high school that would stand scrutiny in any college. Some students have found their talent in helping others.
   Other students have made a terrific discovery: a passion. Whether it's writing, science, music, or some other endeavor, this passion is a precious gift. Such a passion gives purpose to life.
   No one has told these young people yet that they must be cautious. Or that the future must wait. Or that things are good enough as they are.
   Luckily for us, many of these young people will make their lives here in Corpus Christi. But many won't. The evidence is that many of the brightest and the most ambitious are leaving.
   It's too much to read into one election to say the future hangs on it. The $30.8 million bond package on the ballot on Nov. 7 is, quite frankly, pretty small potatoes. The passage or defeat of such a minimal offering would hardly mean much in other cities.
   But we're getting into a bad habit in Corpus Christi. We like saying "no." We like saying "no" too much.
   It's too trite to say that we ought to build the future for the students. The fact is they are going to build a future with or without us. Maybe not in Corpus Christi, maybe not in South Texas, but somewhere.
   By continually saying "no," the message that we wind up sending is that we're about the past, the status quo, that this is a place for the timid and the faint-hearted. Which is exactly the opposite of what these students are about.
   The young people represented by the hundreds of students nominated for the South Texas Distinguished Scholar program is the best advertisement we have for ourselves. They are resourceful, curious, generous and hard working to a fault. They believe in themselves. And they have a tremendous belief in the future.
   The point here is that these students, as bright and as confident as they are, don't need us, but we sure need them.
   I see why good teachers return to the classroom each new school year. They are in the business of the future. I hope Corpus Christi is too.
   (Nick Jimenez can be reached by phone at 886-3787 or by e-mail at jimenezn@caller.com.)
  
  

 
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