JOHN MITCHELL SCHOOL

I dreamed I stood in a studio

and watched two sculptors there;

the clay they used was a young child’s mind

and they fashioned it with care.

 

One was a teacher, the tools he used

were books and music and art;

 

One a parent with a guiding hand,

and a gentle loving heart.

 

Day after day the teacher toiled,

with touch that was deft and sure;

while the parent laboured by his side

and polished and smoothed it o’er.

 

And when at last their task was done,

they were proud of what they had wrought,

for the things they have moulded into the child

could neither be sold nor bought

 

And each agreed he would have failed

if he had worked alone,

for behind the parent stood the school,

and behind the teacher the home.