Happy Monday, Eagles!

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically.

"Maybe," the farmer replied.

The following day the horse returned, bringing three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed.

"Maybe," replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy for what they called his "misfortune."

"Maybe," answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

"Maybe," said the farmer.

I love this parable; it illustrates a fundamental idea about situations that befall us. These situations are neither good nor bad; they are just occurrences that are often the result of natural causes or the universe's randomness.

We, as human beings, distinguish between "good situations" and "bad situations" by how we react; how we let ourselves be affected. Many times "good" comes from "bad" situations. We could learn a lesson or, as in the case of the farmer's new horses and injured son, sometimes what seems terrible has to happen to open the way for change.

It is not to say that we should live a life devoid of feelings or accept everything that happens to us, but much of what we feel about adverse times is our doing.

We must put things into context for our students and teach them that resiliency is a chiefly internal and self-driven skill.

Our 2nd graders, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., decorated signs and marched for equal rights. Surely these 2nd graders "have an awareness of their impact on others" as our mission sets out to accomplish.

Marching wasn't the only thing our 2nd graders have been trying out. During this unit, they have been exploring elements of drama and reading scripts on some of the more common folktales.

To show their understanding of attributes of 3D shapes, students built 3D shapes using dried pasta as the edges and marshmallows as the vertices.

Groups continue to collaborate to get their projects presentation ready by February 2nd, Exhibition Night Showcase!

PYPX group including Yorley, Dominik, Evelyn & Briana read Spanish and English poetry to our 2nd graders and kindergarteners. They even read their own original poem, Stitch.

Last week our 8th graders shared community project goals and their personal interests in chosen topics. They communicated ambitious ideas to help various levels of community and identified their next investigative steps.

If you have an 8th grader in your family, please ask them about their community projects. You may even prove to be a resource of information for them. Your interest and expertise will help pave a successful pathway for our 8th graders!

Congratulations to Ezekiel who medaled this last week at the cross country meet.

Liliana & Olivia (7th grade) sang at the MS Region 29 Honor Choirs concert at Holmes HS on Saturday They had rigorous choir rehearsals from morning till 2 pm, met other contestants, and sang beautifully at the concert.

The 8th grade dual language students learned about pathways at the high school level, including college course credit and job opportunities.

Our counselor Ms. Gandaria held a meeting with parents to discuss the transition to Jefferson High School with parents of 8th graders.

All parents and families interested are invited to register for and attend the Siempre Bilnigüe conference parent session! All parents who attend will receive a shirt and can join in raffles for prizes including books!

Website: https://schools.saisd.net/page/175.homepage/
Location: 1717 West Magnolia Avenue, San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone: (210) 438-6560
Facebook: facebook.com/SAISDWoodlawnAcademy
Twitter: @IB_Woodlawn