Parent Portal
Grandparents and Grandfriends Day is a celebratory annual tradition at Willow. Normally, we open our doors to our students’ grandparents, inviting them into their classrooms to see what they are learning. While we couldn’t host our usual event this year, we still wanted to honor our students’ relationships with their grandparents and elder friends, especially as these members of our families and communities deal with increased risk and isolation during COVID-19.
Our students reached out to their grandparents in many ways over the course of a week, sharing their art, writing, and most importantly, love and gratitude. In our middle school, students went one step further: interviewing their grandparents. This project proved to not only be a wonderful writing assignment. It also helped students learn more about their grandparents and the world they lived in than ever before.
In the spirit of this month’s virtue, Wisdom, we wanted to share some of the many wise words our students’ grandparents gave them during their interviews. This is how our students’ elder friends answered the question, “If you could provide words of wisdom to yourself at my age, what would you say?”
Find your passion in life, in your work, and do what inspires you. Do not be afraid to fail, remember the best baseball players strike out more than they hit. Know your values in life and live by them. Laugh a lot and have fun.
Don’t just give up on things. Pursue them because you don’t want regrets as you get older.
Study because nobody can take it away from you.
Yo transmitiría la necesidad de motivación para el aprendizaje permanente. (I would convey the need to get motivated for lifelong learning.)
Work hard at anything you do. Life is not always going to be easy, but if you work hard you can do anything you want.
Don’t be afraid to do things that you are afraid to do. Take the chance.
Be interested in everything around you.
Pay close attention to everything. Ask more questions. Be more observant.
Have patience in life. Be more deliberate in the actions you take and be more engaged in the things you do. “Measure twice, cut once.”
Follow the motto of the tortoise and the hair. If you proceed slowly and with caution, you’ll have a much better chance of getting where you want to go.
If you are nice to people, they will be nice back.
Be your own self. Don’t listen to others. Do what your heart tells you.
Follow your dreams. You need to follow your heart and do what you want and what makes you happy.
It’s not what you have, it’s who you have.
No matter how old you are, enjoy each day, your family, and the important things in life.
Don’t worry about what others think about yourself or anything else. It is really hard because at 13, it is one of the most important things in your world.
Love yourself no matter what. Don’t let anyone influence you or discourage you. Stick to your goals, and don’t let anyone stand in your way.
You’re going to see negative things in life, but always believe in the positive.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with our students and our community, Willow grandparents! We are sending you all of our love.
