BRIDGE BUILDERS NETWORK, (BBN) is an organization founded on the premise that relationships and conversations are the essence of life.   In 1986, BBN founder Darin Earley discovered his life’s mission codified in a poem, “The Bridge Builder” by Will Allen Droomgoole.  Going on to become a public school educator, administrator, and college professor, Darin has continued to live his life with the goal of glorifying God as he seeks to build bridges and create a network of people and organizations committed to the betterment of the lives of today’s urban and suburban youth.

The Bridge Builder

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide–
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”

You may be wondering why I have a picture, circa 1900, of this white woman on my website.  The reasoning being that much like you and I, her life impacted someone she never met, in a manner she never imagined.  THIS IS A PICTURE OF WILL ALLEN DROOMEGOOLE. I never knew the author of my favorite poem was a woman.  A woman who spoke about civic responsibility.  A woman who I probably had very few things in common with.  Nonetheless, a woman who serves as a bridge builder in my life and has inspired me to build bridges for others.  What is Bridge builders Network?  An organization that inspires students, teachers and other professionals to be their best selves, so that they can inspire someone else to do the same.

JOIN THE NETWORK!

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