letters to my class

Dear Classmates,

Remember last week when we played hockey outside and everyone was freezing? You guys were so cold, it was all you could think about. You couldn’t even line up correctly. You definitely couldn’t play hockey.

When we’re worried about our safety or comfort, it’s almost impossible to focus on anything else. So when we’re in our classroom, we have to make sure everyone feels safe, feels included, and feels comfortable. Then, we’re all ready to learn.

We’ll have disagreements, and we’ll have problems. That’s normal. And those are chances to learn something new. But we always have to make sure that everyone feels at home.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

Most of life is improvisational. You figure it out on the spot. Life doesn’t give you a study guide or tell you when the test is going to be. All you have is what you’ve stored up inside yourself.

So when you learn something new, make sure it becomes a part of who you are. Don’t just store new knowledge in your brain–you’ve got to put it in your heart and in your soul.

Because when challenges come, who you are–the combination of all you’ve learned and done–is all you’ve got.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Writers,

When I was writing papers in college I always imagined I was writing for the world, not just for a grade. I really believed that my words mattered and could change the world. This made me very, very happy. And I think it made some of my professors very, very happy as well. Other professors gave me poor grades. (I didn’t take any more classes from them.)

I still believe words can change the world. I believe this anytime I write anything. If my grocery list flies out of my cart and someone picks it up in the King Soopers parking lot, I want it to blow their mind. I want it to rearrange how they view the world.

Your words matter. Every time you write something, expect it to shake the world.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

Today is election day. Every two years we vote for new representatives and all sorts of other stuff.

But many people don’t vote. I don’t think it’s because they’re lazy, though. I think it’s because they’re scared–scared they don’t know enough about politics and scared they’ll make a foolish decision.

But politics is just the process to figure out how to live together. And everyone should have a vision for that. Nobody’s vision is perfect or right or complete; everyone is still figuring it out. (Although many people won’t admit this.) But while we’re figuring it out, we still have to pull that lever. We still have to have our say.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

Sometimes when I’m drinking homemade coffee, I’m wishing I were sipping on an espresso from some hip coffee shop. If only, I think, I lived in a cooler neighborhood. Sometimes when I’m sitting in my own way too big, comfortable house, I’m scrolling through real estate ads for other houses. If only, I think, I had a three-car garage.

One choice you’ll have to make many times a day is whether or not you’re content. Is what you have good enough or do you wish you had something different?

It’s nice to have dreams. But when they distract us from enjoying what we have and who we’re with, they can be nightmares.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Learners,

When I learn something new on the guitar, it sounds terrible. And sometimes I start thinking I’ll never master it. But if I keep at it, eventually it starts sounding like music–though many mistakes remain.

You have to be wrong a lot before you’re ever right. And then you’re going to keep being wrong for a while before you prove that being right wasn’t just a fluke. Anything worth doing is probably something you’re going to mess up the first few times you try it. So it’s wise to stay humble about whatever you’re trying.

But mistakes are our only teacher. Look for opportunities to make them and learn from them.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Teachers,

I was looking in old yearbooks the other day, and I recognized many of you in preschool. (You were so cute.) That means some of you have been in the same class for years. And many of you will go to the same middle school and the same high school and walk across the same high school graduation stage. That’s 14 years spent together learning.

In that time, I hope you come to see one another as your best teachers. You have the opportunity to teach each other so much–both academically and socially. You’ll learn more from your peers than from your teachers, your parents, and your books. Make it count.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

When we play Poison Dart Frog, we create a world separate from the real world. In the real world, you don’t have to pretend to die if someone sticks their tongue out at you. But in Poison Dart Frog world you do.

Play is important because it lets us turn reality into something we can grasp. When we play, we set up temporary rules about what means what. We ignore the complexities of the real world and create our own reality–at least for a while.

The big job in life is to create meaning in this big, complex, and uncaring world. Play lets us practice doing just that.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

I spend a lot of time, money, and energy making sure my Kentucky Bluegrass lawn looks good. But Poa pratensis is an invasive species. It snuck its way to the Americas as a stowaway on some ship. Some people might even consider it a weed. And yet I pour tens of thousands of gallons of water on it each year to make it grow, and then I cut it every week. The world is weird.

The world gets the way it is through infinite small circumstances like this. There is no plan and there is no way it’s supposed to be. Remember that when you imagine what you want the future to look like.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I had friends over to play a game this weekend, and I won! And I felt really good about it…for about a minute or two. And then I was just happy my friends were there.

It feels really good to be right…for about a minute or two. And then the feeling fades, and we’re left with the people around us. If we worry too much about being right, they just might not hang around.

And we all need other people. We can’t be sure what for and when, but everyone needs caring people in their lives. Living is too hard to do by ourselves.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck