Reputations – businesses thrive or die by it.  The Proverbs teach that a good name is worth far more than riches.  They also teach that people tend to remember unpleasant things rather than the good things people have done with their lives.

When I started Lawton Academy of Arts & Sciences, I was relying upon my reputation to bring me students.  I had no financial backing, no government grants, and I wasn’t making any income other than my teacher’s retirement, which turned out to be far less than I expected.  Thank goodness my reputation did bring me eleven students, and thus began our academy seventeen or so years ago.

My students have always heard me teach them that a good community reputation is very important.  When they worked with me in establishing that, local businesses and places of interest welcomed us back.  I am happy to say that I have been proud of the standard my students achieved all these almost fifty years I have been teaching.  It certainly opened a lot of doors for us.

I am dismayed at the presidential campaigning right now. I wonder what impact this will have upon the thinking of our students.  Just Friday, one of my first graders was playing a game of skill with our class.  He had to try to roll a marble onto a small circle drawn on a mat.  When his marble made a sudden turn with a crease in the mat, he exclaimed, “Wow! That was a Donald Trump move!”  I dared not ask why the remark, but the whole class found it to be funny.  I wonder just how much these six-year-olds have heard on the news!

-          Kay