20th Anniversary Benefit

I attended a benefit for Council Oak Montessori school last night. I received an award as a founding member of the Husbands Support Group, for the men whose wives have devoted their lives to making this school a success.

I publicly read a poem I had written some time ago for the children of the school:

Once there were some parents who were going to start a school
They said, what will we call it? We must pick a name that’s cool.
They thought of lots of names but mostly they were pretty rotten
I’d tell you what they were, except, they all have been forgotten.
And then one father said: hey what about that old oak tree
That grew near here, that grew so tall? You know, it seems to me
That tree was something special. The Potawatomi,
The native tribe that roamed this land before the settlers came,
Had special meetings by that tree and called it by a name.
I don’t know what they called it in the language that they spoke,
But when they spoke in English, they called it “Council Oak.”
A council was a meeting where they gathered to discuss
Big things. They sat in circles, a little bit like us.
They sat beneath the tall oak tree, in a peaceful spirit.
This school is named after that tree. Remember when you hear it!
And don’t forget to tell your friends, now you know the story,
Of how this school got the name “Council Oak Montessori.”