Blog Archives

Our Childhood Dreams

12/24/2015

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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Have a Wonderful Winter Break

12/17/2015

Have a wonderful holiday. When we get back in January we will do some amazing things in the art room! I have big plans for you. I will miss you , stay safe.
Love, Ms. B.

Pressure

12/15/2015

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Earlier today, I walked through the galleries at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to view all of the gems. If I am not looking at art, you can find me gazing at minerals and gems. This is a new interest of mine, brought about from the short time that I stopped teaching in 2013 to sell jewelry for David Yurman in Manhattan and in Boca Raton. Prior to selling for Yurman, I really didn’t know very much about gems. During the short time that I sold for Yurman, I broke three sales records. One of the records that I broke was that I was the first salesperson at the Boca Boutique to sell a diamond from their bridal collection. It was a gorgeous $40,000 diamond!
I learned a little about diamonds back then, and today as I gazed into the cases of diamonds, it made me think about the wonderful mysteries of diamonds. Did you know that diamonds come from a material (some say carbon, others say charcoal) that has been subjected to great heat, pressure and stress, in order for it to transform into a beautiful diamond? When the natural material is placed under pressure, it will transform into a diamond or if it can’t handle the pressure, it will simply become dust. Fascinating!
What a wonderful analogy to life. Some of us, when placed under stress and pressure will rise to the top and achieve success, while others crumble under pressure and quit.
l want to challenge you to think about how you handle pressure in your life. Do you fall to pieces or does stress cause you to gather your strength to conquer the situation? Truthfully, I have reacted to stress both ways. There have been times when I have fallen apart over stressful situations, and there are other times when pressure empowered me to continue on.
High school can place a lot of stress and pressure on you. There is peer pressure, performance pressure, pressure for grades, pressure for GPA’s and pressure to get into college. For some of you, it is simply the pressure to finish high school and get your diploma.
So, what can you do to ensure that you don’t crumble under pressure in school? This is an important topic to discuss because one thing is for sure; we can not escape pressure in life.
One of the key factors that will help you be successful in school and to handle pressure is to surround yourself with supportive people. You are not alone in this journey. You have teachers, administrators, counselors, resource specialists, security officers, and climate & culture people all around you to help you be successful, so take advantage of all that support.
Also, I suggest to surround yourself with friends who are on the right path and who share similar goals that you have, and try to minimize everything that will distract you and keep you from making the right decisions.
Take responsibility for your school work and believe in yourself. Make a concerted effort to see challenges as opportunities for achievement and growth, but don’t forget to pace yourself. Stress and pressure can wear you down at times. Sometimes, you have to stop and take a break to rest. If you run yourself down too much you will crash under pressure, so remember to eat healthy, sleep and exercise.
Life is so interesting. Sometimes, when things are at its worse, and the pressure is on, you might feel defeated, but, always remember, it is always darkest before the dawn. People in my life have seen me at my worse and did not stick around long enough to see me blossom. They did not have the capacity to understand that catepillars turn into butterflies, sand into pearls, and coal into diamonds.
When I look at you, I don't see a lump of coal, I see a diamond in the making. Don't quit under pressure, allow your education to transform you into something beautiful. Love, Ms. B.

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What Can You Give This Holiday Season?

12/5/2015

Many of us do not have a lot of extra money at the holidays season to buy gifts for our family, friends and neighbors, but there are many things that you can give that doesn't cost a thing! Love and kindness are free to give and wonderful to receive. Random acts of kindness is always free and will bring more happiness to you than you will give to others. Try it and see if I am right!

Messy Rooms, Messy Lives.

12/5/2015

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.

The Season of Love

12/2/2015

This is the season of giving. It is a season of joy, peace and most importantly love. "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things". Life is meaningless if you do not have love in your heart. If you have nothing to give this holiday season, try giving love. Love is the most precious of all gifts; it is free to give and it is free to receive plus it makes the world a better place!

English - love , French - l'amour, German - Liebe, Spanish - amor, Italian - amore, Portuguese - amor, Polish - miłość
Dutch - liefde, Finnish - rakkaus, Norwegian - kjærlighet
Danish - kærlighed, Swedish - kärlek, Greek - ἀγάπη (agape), Hungarian - szerelem, Turkish - așk, Chinese - 爱 (ai), Japanese - 愛 (ai), Korean - 사랑 (sarang

Auguro a tutti voi un felice e salutare vacanza stagione. Buon Natale, Ms. B.

Young Life, South East D.C.

12/1/2015

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Camping with my students in Goshen, Virginia.

Awesome to have the opportunity to bring urban kids into the country (away from the busy city) so they can peacefully explore who they are and where they are going in life. I am blessed to be apart of changing the lives of teens. I'm grateful.

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Rockbridge Young Life Camp

12/1/2015

Changing Lives For Eternity

When I was in high school I belonged to an amazing club called Young Life and now I am a Young Life leader at Ballou High School. This weekend we took a group of students to a Young Life camp in Goshen, Virginia called, Rockbridge Camp. It was an amazing time for the kids and for me! Lives were changed, and friendships were built. Check out our photos and if you are curious to learn more about Young Life, click on the links below.
Now, I will get to bed early and try to re-cope some of the lost sleep from this weekend. Love, Ms. B.
https://dcsouth.younglife.org/Pages/default.aspx
https://www.younglife.org/Pages/default.aspx

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.