A poem for today...

Yesterday at the Clear Spring School, middle school students worked on their arched bridges and Kindergarten students made "cat boxes." The middle school students have put so much effort into their bridges that they no longer plan to test them to a breaking point. They have other uses in mind.  If you show something made of wood to Kindergarten students that you've made, they will want to make one, too. I guarantee.

Last week we made flag poles, and their teacher, Miss Charla, was amazed at how excited they were with what such simple things.The wonderful and most natural enthusiasm Kindergarten students have for everything should help us to understand what's possible in American education. This week I showed a small box with cat ears and whiskers and had parts ready.

Woodworking with Kindergarten students takes one adult to two or three kids and requires the parts to be cut in advance.  The cat boxes were ready for decoration in one half hour of hammering nails. Other photos of this project can be found on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/douglasstowe/

A Piece of Wood
by Henry Rohr

Every possibility is sleeping in such a piece of wood
It depends on you
how you look at it
what you see in it-

some useless obstacle in your way
fuel to light your fire
material
to build a fence around your isolation
to build a house- a door- a table.

OR a challenge
waiting just for you
to be set free
to be called to life.

The woodcarver, the artist sees it like that.

He takes it in his hands
and sees the hidden life
and makes it speak
Of growth and death
joy and pain
all the mysteries of life.

All this is contained
in a piece of wood.

Make, fix, and create. Assist others to do the same.