Principal's Bulletin #10

Post date: Nov 19, 2014 4:13:51 PM

Dear Belmont Family,

It is cliché, but arguably logical, to compare education to a marathon. The dedication required of both is incredible. The muscle, grit and stamina needed to do well at both is clear and both have roots in ancient times. In fact “curriculum” (Latin) can be translated to mean “race” or the course that a runner takes. There are also some differences between the two words. Once a race has ended, it has ended. Awards are given, speeches are made and the deed is done. No one will expect you to run the marathon again. It can simply be checked off the “bucket list”. Education is different. It is for life and is never “done”. Yes, there are milestones in education that we celebrate but we need to pay closer attention to the smaller victories that we accomplish everyday as we learn. We need to take stock of the fact that learning is for life and that life is for learning.

I encourage you, in whatever capacity you can, to learn something new this year by challenging yourself to grow. There may not be a line of cheering fans as we strive to learn, but the internal rewards cannot be measured in bronze, silver or even gold. It can only be measured by you because only you know if you have tried your best, challenged yourself and worked hard to learn something new. At Belmont we are working to provide these opportunities through parental involvement such as our Meet and Greet Series, college tours such as our up and coming trip to Philadelphia, and educational trips to The Intrepid, Bronx Barge and The New York Botanical Garden.

As always, we look forward to supporting learning for every member of our community and will champion all of your successes and efforts here.

Fondly,

Principal Gumbs