Mango Minds

Dad recently sent me this photo that my Aunt Lucy scanned in from THE family photo album.  In the middle is my grandmother Agnes, surrounded by my uncle, aunt and Dad.  Being that photography was not as accessible at that time, there is one album of family pictures from my dad’s family. The whole family: one album. Each picture: a treasure; there are so few.  So many stories we have had to recreate with our own images. I have about a thousand pictures of my children, of course thanks to digital photography. They have also taken quite a few on their own, playing around with the camera or phone, and some of these are fabulous.  With so many pictures, it’s hard to identify or come up with one that is a great treasure-we love looking at them all; but I invite you and your children to go through the many, many pictures and pick out one to share with us in our upcoming 3rd Annual Elementary Photo Exhibit: Our Community, Our Friends: Belonging

My Children are Spanish. They are also equally Panamanian and North American, or Estates , as they might say; but all of that together takes more time to explain than any two or four year old cares to dedicate, so they generally choose one of the three, and when it comes to my son, Ben, España is his nationality of choice. Both of my children are proud to be from Spain, which is a credit to their dad and his family who have created a strong sense of family identity despite the distance. But I would like to state for the record that it has been a tough year for me to compete with Spain (not that it’s a competition) given all of the recent sports victories that Spain has taken home: World Cup, Wimbledon, Roland Garros-French Open, U.S Open (Nadal!), Tour de France, not to mention their basketball team, their motorcyclists, their Fernando Alonso, AND that it’s hard to make it from our house to the El Rey without passing many Real Madrid or Barça car decals. Of course Ben is from Spain...

Abandon the idea that we have to be like everyone else in order to fit in. We are not ever going to be the same and we are part of the group just the same. We are a school of diverse learners, parents and teachers, and the diversity of our school community lends itself to an enriched understanding of what makes us special.  In September we will highlight with students that each and every person is a valued member of our community. We want to foster connections and friendships in classrooms, develop respect for our peers, and develop a sense of responsibility to our self and others, because achieving an inclusive, accepting learning environment takes a commitment from each person. Cooperation increases learning, and cooperation requires that children utilize complex social skills to achieve a common goal. In September students will explore questions like How do my actions affect others? What behaviors and attitudes permit people to get along and belong? Why are rules impo...