Dear Humans,
Successful people come in all genders, all races, all ages, all abilities. But they all have one key characteristic in common: self-control.
Successful people have a clear idea of how they want to live their lives and they stick to it. When their brains make a decision, their bodies carry out. When something is important to them, they don’t let others sway them from it.
Make up your own mind about the kind of life you want to live and remain true to it.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear Readers,
We read to follow our passions. My hope is that you all fall in love with word themselves, but regardless of what you’re passionate about, you will read texts to learn more about it. Car repair manuals, cookbooks and recipes, fan blogs, and newspaper articles–these are the texts you’ll rely on to make your passions come to life.
If you learn the skills you need to access the texts of your passions, then you will be on your way to the good life.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear Creators of New Worlds,
It’s true in all subjects, but especially true in math is that we give lots of different names to the same thing. Think of time. We can talk about the span between now and then in seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. All of these names describe the same thing, but they give us a new perspective on it.
And new perspectives open up new possibilities. And what this world needs more than anything else are new possibilities. You can create them.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear Humans,
In the back of our classroom, we have posted the essential question you have to answer: “What is the good life?”
That will take a lifetime. And the best way to answer it is to know as much about the world as you can.
Why do we need to know about the first Europeans to come to Colorado? Because they may have something interesting to teach us about living the good life. Why do we need to learn about the properties of magnets? Because we might learn something about the nature of the good life.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear Rule Followers,
We follow the small rules so our communities run smoothly. We walk silently in the hallways so we can quickly get where we’re going without disturbing others. We return library books when they’re due so others may read them. No one’s ever changed the world for the better by breaking the little rules.
Because there are big, unwritten “rules” that we do need to break. Like the “rule” that if you’re not reading at grade level by third grade then you won’t amount to much. Or the “rule” that the Zip Code you were born in will determine your future. Those are the “rules” that we need to break. So let’s save our rule-breaking for those.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear Museumgoers,
The Museum of Nature and Science is my favorite place in Denver. They’ve collected experiences from all over the world (no, the universe!) and placed them in one building. I never leave the museum without learning something profound.
Take advantage of your own opportunity to learn something profound. Pay attention and be engaged. Ask questions and think deeply about what you learn. Museums don’t just teach us facts about the world. They show us how humans make the world known.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear Coloradans,
What’s Colorado today was not always Colorado. Look at that map. See Colorado as a swirl of colors. Look at how many moves it took to make Colorado the square it is today. Throughout time, many people made claims on Colorado: indigenous peoples, Spanish, French, Americans.
Like most of the world, Colorado is a place of conflict and constant change. We have to remember that Colorado looks the way it does through pure historical happenstance. And is there a more powerful in the world?
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear Humans,
Nobody writes children’s books about those who protested integration. But we all remember Ruby Bridges. Nobody remembers those who look on while others on the playground are bullied. But we will remember those who stood up to cruelty. History is not kind to those who act selfishly when others are looking for fairness.
Remember that today. It’s never easy to know exactly what the right thing to do is. So let compassion be your guide.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear World-Changers,
How you do a thing is more important than what you do. It’s easy to float through life, taking it as it comes. But we need more people who live each day with purpose. That doesn’t mean they take themselves too seriously. It means whatever they do, they do it knowing it can change the world for the better.
Don’t wait to be older and richer and more powerful to change the world. Do it today.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
Dear Humans,
Most of the people you meet in this world you’ll only see once. Store clerks, pizza delivery drivers, customers, friends of friends. And after those people are gone, they won’t remember what shoes you were wearing. And they won’t remember the exact words you said. And they might not even remember your name. But they will remember if you showed kindness or not.
So we’re always prepared to show kindness to a stranger, let’s practice on each other.
Sincerely,
Mr. Heimbuck
letters to my class 