A wise educator friend once told Roland there are three (3) important facets latent in each individual: Worth, Dignity, and Capacity. He says the challenge for each educational system is to bring those inherent qualities out in their students.
The friend is right, of course. Roland's vision and effort aims at uncovering individual Dignity while convincing students of their Worth. Only then comes the challenge for them to develop their own special Capacity.
As important as those instincts of Worth, Dignity, and Capacity lying latent in each and every student, is the means for uncovering them within individuals. That's where the twin principles that Roland uncovered on his way to success and an adventure-filled life come in:
1. One must learn to think for one's self
2. One must accept responsibility for one's actions
It's a good formula allowing anyone to recover from past mistakes
Roland believes learning is a lifetime thing. The better prepared students are to learn, the better life they'll lead. Obviously the place to best initially prepare themselves would be during their school years. But ...
It's important for students to understand the education they'll receive in school is only a portion of what they'll glean throughout life. What they can pick up during school is a tool box to prepare them for the continuing education they'll receive upon entry into the world beyond the classroom. Naturally, the full schoolbox is important, but the ongoing education for the bulk of their life will come through observation, experience and reading. Makes no difference whether the student is planning to matriculate at M.I.T. or L.S. U. or Slippery Rock, the day will come when they must enter the world of outputting instead of intaking. And you know what? Those individuals who learned to read--what's more, LIKES to read--will be better positioned for the race for life, instead of merely making a living.
* flunked high school English -- twice!
* demonstrated international credentials by also flunking Spanish
* dropped out of school halfway through final year
* married too young, with no money, wife still in high school, and little in the way of solid prospects
* had children too soon, with two babies in diapers at same time during early years
* laid off from succession of jobs: mill closures, seasonal shutdowns, reduction in force
Ever wonder how a guy who flunked high school English, who couldn't diagram a sentence if his life depended upon it morphed into a book author, a magazine and newspaper journalist?
Simple. He LEARNED to love to read. Reading opened up new horizons, exposed new frontiers, ushered in new dreams. Roland learned to write by osmosis; by reading good writing.
How about all those years as an outdoors guide? Surely the guy never read his way to wilderness adventure.
No. The keys to outdoors heaven wasn't handed to Roland in a blinding flash of light on the way to anywhere. Instead, those keys came through curiosity and an insatiable urge to learn more about elk and buttercups, grizzly bears and hop toads. He learned enough in the field to recognize cattails at a glance. But he learned that their roots, stems, and seed pods were edible by searching out and reading about them in material written by others.
Here are some of the benefits accruing to Roland through reading:
* Worked way to plywood mill foreman; later to Safety Director for interstate wood products firm
* Owner and operator of wilderness guide service for over 20 years
* Served as officer and board member for several conservation organizations
* 21 years as newspaper outdoors columnist
* Hundreds of magazine pieces, many to America's top outdoors publications
* 7 years as host of "Trails to Outdoor Adventure", syndicated to 75 radio stations across America
* Wrote 12 books; 6 Western advdenture titles and 6 nonfiction tales of grizzly bears, elk, and wild places
One could be a round-table discussion with 10 or 12 of your most "at-risk" kids where Roland would simply begin by telling them that a few decades ago he could be sitting in this same group as one of them. He'd share his dreams and his own roadmap to success.
He would work at getting them to talk, to share their dreams. He'd strive to connect to their problems, offering opportunities they'd not recognized. Above all, he would work very hard at convincing them of the importance of reading for pleasure..
Roland feels his most important message is the importance of reading. And the message will be subtly introduced into each of the presentations, no matter which is selected. But the most directed message is the presentation focused primarily on that very subject; the one where Roland exposes his own sordid litany of lousy decision-making. Then he'll explain how he worked his way out of the morass of a deadender to success and adventure.
This is Roland's storytelling at its best, tales with embryos formed around countless wildlands campfires, and polished in thousands of newspaper columns and radio programs, and hundreds of magazine pieces. Riveting! Dynamic! Unforgettable!
1. being published
2. writing salable stuff
Roland explains the process he followed to become first, a writer, then a publisher. His is a nuts-and-bolts presentation laced with both the popular romance of the craft, and its many pitfalls.
Since the man has followed his dream for many years, one can be assured there's an abundance of encouragement in this presentation
 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|