Partnership Educators,
Ben’s nephew was sixty-five years old and living in London when he became interested in rare books. He was so interested that he invited a rare book dealer to his home. The gentleman brought with him many different types of books. Ben’s nephew glanced through the books looking at illustrations and small passages when he stopped cold. What attracted his attention was what was written in the margins of a pamphlet within one of the books. It was a handwritten message of someone very special. It was the client's own Uncle Ben. “You would have enjoyed him,” the client told the book dealer. “My Uncle was a poet and a dreamer. My Uncle Benjamin Franklin.”
Ben Franklin was already up in years when he went to go live with his much younger brother Josiah and his little boy who was only nine. Ben and his nephew bonded immediately. “What’s that?” The little boy would ask his surprised uncle at his writing desk. It could have been anything really. A treasured collection of political pamphlets, a crude sketch of some visionary device, or a unique system of shorthand for recording quickly spoken words. It might have been an original poem. Ben would often proudly recite his poems to the eager young boy who was enamored and spellbound with his Uncle Ben.
Now the boy’s father, Josiah Franklin, had always loved and looked up to his older brother. However, he grew concerned that his son might be seduced into a life of daydreaming under Ben’s influence. So, during the four years that Ben lived under his brother’s roof, Josiah struggled to offset his brother’s impractical example. When the little boy began writing poetry, Josiah would ridicule it. It was for the child’s own good, he would tell himself. After such a session, Josiah would march the young boy out to the workshop for a crash course in some useful everyday craft. Ben Franklin’s nephew grew up magnificently confused because he learned to cling to the practical but secretly longed for the impossible. Mostly the nephew had learned to combine the two sides.
You never knew the practical, down-to-earth Josiah. The father had infected his child with all things pragmatic and sensible. Actually, you never knew Uncle Ben either. Instead, you remember the namesake nephew. The young boy learned realism from his father and idealism from his uncle. A fledgling nation became richer for this young boy’s childhood. The little boy whose formative years spent under the equally powerful influences of two very different men was also named Ben. He was the founding father that you know as Benjamin Franklin.
Having an interest in learning about anything is built over time. Usually, the first experience with the thing or topic doesn't generate the highest level of interest. The highest levels of interest usually occur once we start to learn about the intricate nuances of that thing or topic. As we are presented more information over time, we learn about the special nuances of it and it becomes more interesting. Supportive experts help to guide us when we get stuck, lost, or frustrated. We all seek people who know more than us. I read books, listen to podcasts, and watch YouTube as well as talk with people about whatever it is I am currently becoming interested in.
It takes all kinds of interactions and individuals to support greatness in our students. The power of learning is greatly influenced by how the information is presented and integrated. Benjamin’s practical side benefited and built upon the influence of the dreaming Uncle Ben. We all add value to the outcome of our wards. The students at our schools look to us to learn the practical and the visionary in order to influence their dreams. Thanks for being there for our students each day.
Have an amazing weekend,
Rob