Inspiration, Encouragement & Empowerment
by Teresa Shimogawa
I debated whether or not to share this with the masses. It's a letter I gave to the founding members of the club of which I am the advisor. After several days of contemplation, and since I've already given it to my girls, I thought I might go ahead and take the risk and share it to encourage others to connect with our youth. There is no garbage can for human beings. I've come to the conclusion that adults are really just children who have aged on the outside. They may or may not have grown on the inside.
As somebody who has experienced brokenness and has had to rebuild and grow resilience, I've also learned that we can't force people to learn on our schedules, they must do it on their own. As teachers, it is our job to be patient and give them repeated opportunities to learn without judgement. We can't understand somebody else's journey if we haven't walked in their shoes. All we can do is practice empathy and patience with an open mind and give them every chance to succeed. They won't always succeed. But they'll remember that we believed in them. Kenneth was always trying to teach me that. I finally did, when I was ready.
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May 19, 2017
Dear Founding Members,
Next week you will graduate from high school and begin your lives without the constraints of mandatory K-12 education. As exciting as this feels right now, it should not be the end of your learning. I believe that we should all be life-long learners. There is no such thing as knowing everything. While this doesn’t necessarily mean your learning always has to be through traditional means, having a college degree will give you privilege that others won’t have. It will open doors of opportunity, fill your mind with knowledge, connect you with people, and help you grow as a person.
Find what you are passionate about and immerse yourself in the study of it. Then go find more things that you are passionate about to learn. There are Badass Teachers Association: Inspiration, Encouragement & Empowerment by Teresa Shimogawa:
