Big Things Have Small Beginnings: Michael Ball on the Power of Reading

Standing before PCAT students and families at graduation, Michael Ball asked parents to think beyond the ceremony itself.

He encouraged them to recognize that while their children had spent the year learning, growing and working, the experience had also created something less tangible: memories that could remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Michael reflected on his own childhood and the books he still remembers—including Ferdinand the Bull and Where the Wild Things Are—as examples of how reading experiences can stay with us long after childhood has passed.

“I know these children will remember]. I remember even the books that I read as a child.”

But his message wasn’t simply about remembering favorite books.

It was about what those early experiences can begin.

Michael described reading as one of the foundational skills children can carry with them regardless of where life takes them. Developing not only the ability to read, but also the desire to continue learning, he explained, can become the beginning of lifelong success.

“Reading is one of those critical skills that no matter what happens, to have that solid foundation of reading and the desire to continue to learn, they’ll be successful.”

He described education as a flame that begins with a much smaller spark—and often, that spark is reading.

“That spark starts usually nine times out of ten with reading and the desire to read and to continue to learn.”

Michael also turned his attention directly to the parents in the room.

As the father of a high school senior preparing to graduate, he told PCAT parents that he understood the journey they were on. Children grow older and milestones change, he explained, but a parent’s concern, encouragement and love never really disappear.

Even his own 81-year-old father, he joked, still calls to check on him.

“You never stop worrying. You never stop loving your children.”

For Michael, the parents gathered at PCAT graduation were demonstrating exactly that kind of love—not simply by attending a ceremony, but by making the commitment throughout the year to help their children learn and grow.

He thanked the students for doing the work, the parents for supporting them, and the teachers and PCAT team members who helped guide them along the way.

And he left families with one simple idea about everything their children had accomplished:

“Big things have small beginnings.”

For the children celebrating their accomplishments that day, those beginnings included books, reading, encouragement and families who continued showing up.