Welcome back everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break!  It seems like winter just won’t go away this year, so please ensure that you dress your child appropriately for the weather.

I am looking forward to hearing the students’ stories from their Spring Break.  I am betting it was definitely more exciting than mine.  This year, I spent the majority of the break cleaning out old things from my house and taking truck loads of garbage to the dump or eco-station.  I wouldn’t consider myself a pack-rat, but I certainly kept some strange things and I am not really sure why I would.  For example, I had an eight year old stereo receiver, a set of golf clubs that are so old that I am sure they were used on the very first golf course, and a rotisserie from the bbq I bought over ten years ago.  There were many more interesting finds around the house and I tried to get rid of anything that I had not used in some time, but I found with some items, it is hard to let them go.  I think the idea of letting things go can apply to many aspects of life.  That is one of the many skills that we try to teach our students, especially in relation to interpersonal issues, is that we need to forgive, forget, and move on.  Conflict between students is inevitable and at East we believe that teaching our students to be resilient, compassionate, and empathetic towards others will help them develop the skills to be better people. By letting go of things, we have the chance to move on and move forward, and forward is always better than being stuck in one spot!

Have a great month back at school and I look forward to seeing all of you.

Mr. Chomlak