"Long ago, an Ojibwe chief was teaching his grandson about life. He told his grandson, “A terrible fight is going on inside me….a fight between two wolves”. He explained further, “One wolf is evil - he is anger, envy, greed, arrogance, resentment, superiority, and negativity. The other is good - he is honesty, respect, sharing, kindness, humility, compassion, love and hope.” Grandfather continued, "This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."

Recently there have been some articles in the Daily Press regarding the state of education at Bayfield Public School. Mike Nichols, in particular, spent a great deal of energy and time researching the DPI website and interviewing folks. His article amounts to an indictment of the entire educational system at Bayfield. Are there problems? You bet there are! Yet, as the wise old chief reminds us, we can feed the evil wolf or the good one. The choice is ours.

Mr. Nichols' article didn’t mention that during the past 10 years, amazingly six Red Cliff students have been awarded the highly sought after Gates Millennium scholarships. In addition, just this year three native students at Bayfield have been awarded full tuition, renewable scholarships based on academics and leadership. Mr. Nichols didn’t acknowledge the Bayfield School Electrathon Technology Education class which has successfully participated in competitions, demonstrations, parades, community volunteering, and fundraising. Over 80 percent of Electrathon participants over the past four academic years have been native students."

Get the Story:
Dee Gokee-Rindal: Which Wolf Do You Feed? (The Ashland Current 4/19)