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News from the Principal
October 2007
Welcome to the new 2007-2008 School
Year!
It has been a fantastic start!
I want to thank the HSA - and the great
team of parents as a whole - for assisting in the opening of school!
It was “most awesome” to see the “army of parents”
assisting our kids at the buses, car drop-off, and in the hallways both in the
morning and in the afternoon at dismissal.
I want to thank our teachers and of course – you –
as the individual parents – for helping, loving, and teaching our kids what it
takes to “get the job” done!
As I reflected on this past month, and
the things that are necessary and important to make a successful school year, I
want to share with you an important trait of successful students – and people in
general – that I am suggesting we ought to focus on with our kids.
It has nothing to do with “study skills” – although
successful people do study this.
It has nothing to do with “grades.”
It has to do with how we teach our children to
think!
The gift you can give your children that will affect them
forever is the gift of the “positive attitude.”
It has been preached since the Bible!
Every major philosopher as well as every major
theologian has preached the virtue of positive thought, positive action, and
positive attitude for centuries.
Once the children discover that attitude
is theirs for the taking - that it is their choice - they will need to “study
it,” expose themselves to it (from positive things and people) and practice it
until they “get it.”
Once we (you, I and the kids) have that positive
attitude, we bless ourselves and others who come in contact with us – forever!
Most of us have a positive attitude some
of the time.
I believe the “positive” is a state of mind and all the
things that surround positive can reinforce it, challenge it, or destroy it.
That will be another choice they will make.
What choices have they (and you) made, and what is
reinforcing them (and you)?
There are several key points that I am
suggesting you teach/reinforce with your kids… (1)
Attitude is their choice – not their circumstance;
(2) Attitude is the way they respond to the situation, and not the situation
itself; (3) You have control over the way you choose – the way you respond – to
a situation (and to life - in essence!).
In order to help your kids, help them
to:
first - take control
of the situation.
Stop blaming circumstance and other people for the
situation.
It is not the rain, or the car, or this or that… they (and
you and I!) need to “look in the mirror.”
They (we) have the choice in everything they (we)
do… choose a better way!
Even it is as simple as looking at the situation in
another way!
Second – become
solution-oriented.
Instead of wallowing in the problem, why not spend
the same amount of time working on solutions.
Every obstacle presents an opportunity – if you are
looking for it!
Third – think
before you talk.
So often, people speak without thinking about how
the words will be received.
Is there another way you could be saying the same
thing that might create a more positive concept?
The goal in conversation we typically want is a
positive response.
It make take a little self discipline – but they
will be amazed at the results.
The kids will be like little sponges!
Help them see that attitude is the key!
There are a “ton of books” out there that can help
you continue to renew your commitment to the positive way of thinking (and thus
help your children)… look for authors like Norman Vincent Peal, Og Mandino, and
Zig Zigler.
They are great resources!
Take care and God Bless!
Christine M.
Armbrust
Principal
Archived News from
the Principal
October 2007