Blog Archives

Our Childhood Dreams

10/12/2019

Do me a favor, take a moment to think back to when you were a little child and you had dreams of grandeur. Dreams of being a super hero or a Princess. Dreams of being a beautiful bride, a rock star or a famous NBA super star. Do you remember those days when your world was little but your dreams where big? Do you remember back when you innocently believed that anything was possible? You had a sense of wonder and imagination…where did those days go?

I’ll tell you what happened to those days, life got to you! In life we all have trials and tribulations. It doesn’t matter who you are or how much wealth you have in this world, at one time or another you will suffer pain, sorrows and disappointments; no one can escape such things.

Yet it is in how we handle disappointments and failures in life that separate us from each other. Those who continue to dream big despite obstacles and those who give up. We ALL face mountains that we think we can’t climb so we must persevere, have faith and hold onto our dreams.

It is my hope to inspire you not to give up on your dreams; they are worth having. Don’t let life steal them from you. Set goals and make a plan. Dreams don’t become reality through magic; it takes hard work, focus, determination and faith.

Also remember that dreams don’t discriminate, people do. Don’t buy into someone else's view of you, instead view yourself as a person of value. Live with integrity, honor and valor. If you live properly your life will be blessed and your dreams will come to you. Maybe not in the manner that you once held onto as a child, but life will be good and full. You will feel that your life is being lived exactly the way it was meant to be lived and you will be content. There will be peace and happiness in your life, instead of bitterness and regret.

Remember to dream, I am rooting for you! You can do it, I just know you can!!! Love, Ms. B.

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of love, being a mother and an artist!

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Rockbridge Young Life Camp in Goshen, VA

10/5/2019

#changinglives

We had a great time at Rockbridge Young Life Camp! Check out our photos. I have been taking kids to camp now for three years. Our first two years we had around 10 kids attend. This year, I was privileged to be able to take 30 kids to Goshen, VA. Everyone had a wonderful time and I could not be more please at how well behave the kids were for me. I love all of you and you make me very proud to be your teacher. Love, Ms. B.

Young Life at Ballou High School! Getting kids out of the city to be still.

10/5/2019

Teaching kids how to be still...

...and how to skip rocks!

Messy Rooms, Messy Lives.

10/4/2019

Have you ever seen that show on TV about hoarders? The show where the TV cameras go into a home of a hoarder and show trash and belongings stacked up to the ceiling? It’s astonishing to see and it is hard to believe that people live like that!

Although I am incredibly neat and organized in my home and classroom, at times, my life can feel like a messy room. Just like a hoarder’s home filled with useless items that pile up to the ceiling causing no space to live, so can an emotional life feel when you hoard past pains and hurts. When we don’t deal with these unwanted emotions right away they seem to have a way of stacking up and causing our life to feel a mess. Sometimes we have to stop what we are doing and ‘clean up’ our mess. Let me explain it this way…

I love metaphors. I will use a metaphor that all of you can relate to. Imagine that you open the door to your bedroom and it is a disaster! You have clothes, water bottles, food wrappers, and dirty dishes everywhere. You think to yourself, “How did I let it get so bad, I have to clean this mess up! I can’t live like this any longer”. So you begin the daunting task of cleaning. At first it is overwhelming, you don’t know where to begin. So you simply start by picking up the junk on the floor. You get overwhelmed by the thought of the task ahead of you and you say to yourself, “I should just shove everything in the closet and hide it”. But you know that the closet is not big enough and it would only be a quick fix. If you don’t do it the right way now you will have to deal with the mess later. So you begin to sort through the mess. You get rid of the clutter by throwing broken things away and keeping the good stuff. Cleaning up will stir up memories…you might stop at times to look at stuff that makes you smile because of happy memories, or look at things that make you cry because of painful memories. But nonetheless you continue on until the room is all clean and orderly.

When it is all done, you lay back in your bed and look around at your spotless room. You feel proud and you enjoy your hard work! You did it, what a great feeling! You tell yourself, “I’m going to keep it this way. I will stay on top of my mess instead of letting it all pile-up. I’ll never let it get that bad again”.

It is the same with our emotional lives. When bad things come our way we have a choice. We can let our painful feelings pile up or shove them in the closet (so to speak), only to have to deal with it later.

On a daily basis, many of you come to me with emotional pains such as parents divorcing, financial struggles, parents who are incarcerated or parents and siblings with alcohol and drug dependency. I have one student who is homeless and sleeping at the beach every night. He was keeping a bag of clothes in my storage closet. I have many who are living in homeless shelters and foster facilities. Where do you put all that pain and disappointments? Do you push it away and don’t deal with it because it is just too difficult to face, allowing it to pile up…like a hoarder’s house? Do you start to drink and/or get involved with drugs to mask the pain? One thing that I know to be true, you eventually will have to deal with it; now or later...but how?

I’ll tell you how, you reach out to someone who can help you. You talk. You open up. Trust me, as I type all of this to you I am convicted in my heart that in the past I did not open up to others about my pain. I kept it all to myself and I suffered. It was not until I learned the ‘art’ of opening up and dealing with my pain and disappointments that I really started to live a victorious and happy life.

It's tough. Life is tough. However, there are many resources available to you here at Ely to help you. There are many teachers, coaches, social workers and staff members that are here for you as well. Trust me...we think that we are the only ones going through stuff but once we open up to others we find out that many have walked the same path that you are walking right now and they made it (with help). I love you guys. Now, go clean up your rooms! LOL, Ms. B.

Donna Bonavia

I am an art educator and a professional artist. I write this blog to guide my students in (SEL) social, emotional, and academic development. S.E.L. is the District of Columbia Public School's priority because we believe that we must educate the whole child.