The most interesting audience I have ever spoken to

May 2, 2006

On Tuesday, April 25th I was invited to speak by Katherine Rowland to her son Steven's elementary school: Thompson Crossing in Indianapolis. Steven is a third grader and my audience was all the third grades in his school. I have never spoken to this kind of audience before. Most of my audiences are adults -- either Church or Rotary or other public service groups. I was not quite sure how my subject which was a talk and PowerPoint photo presentation about Chernoby would be taken. Would it be "over their head?" Would they be bored?

It was all BUT that. I have never spoken to a group of people who thought as critically or showed enthusiasm and and interest as the students from Thompson Crossing Elementary School. Since the big news that week was the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of April 26, 1986, my subject was about all my travels and work in that area of the world.

The school administration was understandably wary of what I would be showing. Would my pictures be too graphic? Might they frighten the children? They wanted to see a preview of my presentation and told me twice to be cautious about frightening the children.

After being introduced by Katherine Rowland, Steven's Mom, I told the children about the accident, long before any of them were born. For me it was like yesterday. I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. I showed photos of the power plant, our coming close to it, the Revival Center of Rehabilitation where LifeNets has been helping hundreds of children to this day with therapy. After four slides the hands starting coming up. Questions were spontaneous, well-phrased and showed that they were thinking. I was stimulated. It was hard to move along in the presentation at the pace I wanted to because of all the good observations, questions and comments. Why would the government not care about its children? What could they have done better to prevent the accident? How were other countries able to measure the radiation?  On and on the questions went.

I had never spoken to a more interested group. Ah, we adults who get jaded and calcified by life....ah, that we could become more like third graders. This is why Jesus Christ said on more than one occasion after observing children: Of such is the Kingdom of God and to enter the Kingdom of God, one must become like little children. He was not speaking their level of maturity; he spoke about their minds and hearts and reaction to life around them.

A few days after the presentation I received a thank-you note from Steven telling me that his fellow students could not stop talking about the presentation all through the day. I will never forget my experience of speaking to Steven Rowland and his classmates.