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The Touchstone Concept
In the third grade I was first introduced to the “touchstone” concept. It was early on a Monday morning, before school officially began but when great learning often took place. While standing in a small circle with some of the girls in my class, a boy named Albert Allen cautiously approached. Phyllis paused mid-sentence and Jacqueline rolled her eyes, upward and slightly to the left to announce the arrival of a boy into our private circle.
Albert was unaware of his faux pas and shouldered his way into the circle as I and the other girls remained silent and stared down at our shoes.
“I want to show you something.” He turned as he spoke, so as to make sure he was addressing everyone in the group. Albert was a polite boy who lived directly across the street from our school and had never been absent since the first day of Kindergarten.
Digging into the pocket of his khaki colored pants, he withdrew a small rock. We were not impressed.
He held the rock up high. This allowed the sunlight to hit it just so and the sharp edges seemed to stick out in a three-dimensional way. It was kind of cool, but now we had seen it and just wanted Albert to go away so we could talk some more before the bell rang.
Undeterred by our lack of enthusiasm, he continued.
