justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

“Teachers are the engineers of the human soul!”

- Lin Bing, professor, University of Beijing

Back in 1980, I had the privilege of hosting two visiting scholars from the University of Beijing, who were doctoral students at Kent State University. Lin Bing and Yang Ze Ling were on a nationwide speaking tour sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa, the educational professional organization. As president of our local chapter and coordinator of the northern California region, I’d chosen to host them in our home rather than lodge them at a hotel, which had been their experience during their six-week tour. 

While driving Lin and Yang Ze from the San Francisco airport to our home in the suburb of Concord, they requested that we drive through San Francisco Chinatown to look at the sights and to make a stop for one special purchase. Lin Bing asked that we stop at a variety store on Grant Avenue and he went in and purchased something I had not heard of – an ink stick.

When we got Lin and Yang Ze settled in our home, Lin took out the ink stick and unrolled some special paper he had brought from China. My nine-year old son Carl had stayed home from school that day. He sat transfixed (as did I) as Lin proceeded to use his ink stick and special paper to write the phrase “Teachers are the engineers of the human soul” in Chinese characters. He then shared with us that he was his junior high school’s champion calligrapher for his region in China many years ago. Wow. Both the phrase and his graceful calligraphy were very, very impressive.

My son has grown up and become a firefighter paramedic. We occasionally reflect back on that special shared experience and I use every opportunity I have to repeat that phrase when praising a teacher and our often-criticized school system.