Dear We the People,

You get a say. No matter what your parents do, or how well you do in school, or how much money you make, you get a say in how we govern our country. That’s what rule by the people means. Don’t let anyone take it away from you.

My hope for you is that you get really, really good at reading, writing, and thinking. But not only so you can get into a good school, get a good job, drive a nice car, and be in a positon of power. I hope you do it so you have something of value to add to our world.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Eaters,

Almost half of the food grown and produced in America is wasted. And one in seven Americans doesn’t have enough to eat. This is a problem.I wonder what you can do to help solve it.

I know we eat early in the day, but lunch time is fuel-up time. Your job at lunch is to get energy so you can be focused and engaged in the afternoon.

When you dump your tray today, ask yourself if you’re helping to solve America’s food waste problem or making it worse.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Attention-Givers,

“Attentiveness is your main tool in life.” Jim Harrison

Lots of places and peole vie for your attention. They want your eyes, clicks, and time. Attention is a limited resource–you have to decide where you want to spend it. But the world goes on forever and ever.

If you think of your attentiveness as a tool, then you can get better at using it. And that’s good because in your life you’ll spend more time with yourself than with any other person.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

Enjoy your spring break. I think you deserve it. So I’m not going to give you a homework packet. But I do want you to read every day (only things that you love), write something that’s meaningful to you, and be active.

Also, don’t annoy your family too much.

And be helpful. Unload the dishwasher.. Make your bed. Pick up your room. Doing something without being asked is a heroic deed.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Historians,

While studying US history, we find a lot of admirable people. Anne Hutchinson, Benjamin Franklin, King Philip–these were everyday people who did something that spoke to others at the time. Their spirit matched the spirit of the the times. That’s why we remember them.

They offer us examples of the good life. They show us how we too can be remembered and have an impact on society, especially in this great experiment called the United States of America.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Coders,

We teach you to communicate with people, but throughout your life you’re going to have to communicate with machines, also. You’re going to give instructions to your phone, your car, your house, and your personal robot assistant. Either you know how to make those instructions yourself, or somebody does it for you. I vote for digital self-sufficiency!

Programming is just problem solving. And the prize goes to the one who comes up with the most efficient and elegant solution. And the big prize goes to the one who comes up with new problems to be solved.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Heroes,

Bullies aren’t real. Of course people treat other people like dirt. And often times they pick on others because of their differences. You’ve probably been the victim of some of these actions before. And that’s the worst feeling in the world.

But if you look at a bully close enough, you see the same fears and uncertainties that we all have. Nobody has it figured out. Everybody has their own lifetime of problems.

So we watch out for each other. We correct our friends when they treat people poorly. And we make sure we show the compassion that we want others to show to us. Against that, bullies don’t have a chance.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Order-Finders,

Today is pi day–3/14. Pi is the ratio between a circle’s circumference and its diameter. But it’s really a lot more than that. Throughout your math career you’ll see pi popping up all over the place-geometry, calculus, probability. It leads one to think that pi says something about the inherent order of the world.

Mathematicians keep finding the next digit of pi because it’s kind of fun. And while nobody needs to know pi past just a few decimal places, the techniques mathematicians have used to find the next digit of pi have been extremely useful. As William Blake said, “If the fool would persist in its folly it would become wise.”

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Generalizers,

We look for patterns. We check to see if the pattern always holds true. If it does, we come up with a rule to express the pattern. And then we share it with the world. That’s how math works.

In finding fractions of whole numbers, a pattern is very clear. There’s an easy shortcut. In the past, students only learned the shortcut. Now, we teach you to understand why the shortcut works. That’s so you can come up with your own shortcuts later in life.

Because if you only know other people’s shortcuts, that’s no shortcut at all.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Arguers,

All writing is persuasive writing. You make your reader believe the world you create with words. You write a story–no matter how fantastical–that contains a deep truth that your reader understands. You compose an essay arguing the smallest point–Creamy Peanut Butter is better than Chunky Peanut Butter–but you do it in a way that convinces your reader to see everything in the world from your point of view.

If the world asked questions with only one right answer, then we wouldn’t need to argue. But we know there are lots of right answers in this world, so we have to make our case.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck