We are a little island of happiness

Joyland by Stephen King is a coming of age novel set in an amusement park in 1973. When the owner of the park addresses the employees at the beginning of the summer season, he says this:

"Children will go home and dream of what they saw here and what they did here. I hope you will remember that when the work is hard, as it sometimes will be, or when people are rude, as they often will be, or when you feel your best efforts have gone unappreciated."

And all I can envision are our classrooms.......

For all their years of school, many of our children spend more time with us than they do with anyone else in their lives. We are their guides, their mentors, their friends, their guardians, and their fellow learners. What are we filling their dreams with? What are we imprinting on their memories? Are we sharing our joy for learning? Are we a welcoming place where it doesn't matter who you are, what you know, where you come from, or how you got here?

Stephen King goes on to say this:

The influence we have on making or breaking our students can't be overstated. May we foster in them a love for learning and pure joy for each new day. May the dreams and memories we provide be sweet ones.