When the teacher announced that today's science project was going to see whose self-built kite could fly the highest, everyone was excited. She explained that two students could work together in constructing their kite and then the class would go outside and the competition would begin. They would be given fifteen minutes before the highest kite would be declared the winner.

Immediately Harry and Tommy paired off and began studying the kite building instructions given out by the teacher. Harry quickly read out loud, so Tommy could hear, about angles, air pressure, lift, and design measurements.

Paper, balsa wood, glue, and string began to take shape.

"Be sure you follow the instructions carefully," the teacher reminded the students. "Small mistakes can make big disappointments."

When everyone was ready, they headed outside with their prized kites in hand. The teacher took a moment to show her impatient students how to read a barometer and explain how lowering pressure often means a storm is coming, bringing with it strong winds. Then the contest began.

Children instantly ran in every direction. Before long kites were climbing into the cloudy sky. Harry and Tommy had attached their string to the kite at a sharp angle. This caused the kite to rise nearly straight above their heads and it gained height quickly.

Tommy was sure they were going to win. He watched Harry let out string, then hold it tight between his fingers while it gained height, and then quickly let out more string.

Their kite climbed higher and higher until suddenly . . . an extra-strong wind snapped the string and their kite began to fall back to earth. The teacher's whistle blew, calling an end to the competition; at the very moment their kite crashed onto the ground and another joyous team was declared the winner.

After they settled back down into their seats, the teacher asked everyone to share what they had learned from this project. She listed many things on the board. The teacher noticed Tommy's sad face and asked what was wrong. "My kite should have won," he said firmly. "If the stupid string hadn't broken, my kite would have won."

The teacher smiled and said, "So, you proved to be stronger than the string." Then she turned to the chalkboard and wrote these words: "Sometimes things that hold you down, hold you up."

Turning back to face the class she said, "Think about what this means. Can you gain great heights by breaking the laws of nature?"

She then opened a book and removed a small piece of paper. Let me read a poem to you written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

"The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night."

I hope each of you will learn, the teacher said, to love learning and climb to greater heights by keeping the laws of greatness.