Cohen in the classroom

An exciting proposal before the Bangor School Committee tonight would add Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen to the staff of Bangor High — at least for a day or two a year — as well as give a local middle school a new name. The plan is an ambitious part of school aspirations projects, which promise to help area students think big about their futures.

If approved by the committee, Garland Street Middle School would become the William S. Cohen School, a fitting honor for one of its graduates and a proper recognition for one of the city’s most successful sons. To help raise aspirations, the former senator will visit the students a couple of times a year to lead student discussions, talk with teachers and perhaps meet with parents. One proposed plan for Secretary Cohen’s symposium would have him meet with either sophomores or juniors to discuss topics of international concern, such as economics, the environment and defense.

These topics will get students thinking, but what should inspire them is the secretary’s own story. His beginnings in Bangor are not so very different than those of most kids here now. His hard work and dedication got him known, first, on the high-school basketball court and later in local politics. As a member of Congress, his reputation as an independent thinker was established when became the first Republican representative to vote to impeach President Richard Nixon. Thoughout his years in the House and Senate, the secretary regularly brought honor to Maine and to his hometown through his principled and well-considered stands on the issues of the day.

By coming back to Bangor to teach in the city’s classrooms, Bill Cohen is telling students that the world is open to them, too. He is telling them, as only a person of his immense success can, that their achievements are limited only by their imaginations and their willingness to work toward them.