to center the universe upon a student

the parent-teacher conference

every one of us

moves through each day

on a journey that should be

toward a more perfect self,

toward a wholeness that calls to us,

my calling in career is to partner with students

at a school that seeks to know and love the individual,

and then to build the group,

as each reaches upward and outward

to become the best each can be,

today I met with parent after parent

to discuss the journey of the child,

the child that is theirs for a time,

the one who moves through classes and friends

in a decisive odyssey toward a more perfect self,

the journey fraught with challenge, with difficulty,

both the external, as conditions can overwhelm,

and the internal, as decisions might only haltingly

help the process forward,

I love to witness each journey in the conference,

to celebrate the victories, to mourn the defeats,

to center the universe for a time

upon the student,

and upon the journey that calls to them,

and to which each responds.

by Henry H. Walker

February 23, ‘17