다가오는 12월에는 올해를 되돌아보고 또 내년을 맞이하면서 일년 동안 열심히 산 것, 인생의 도전, 성취감을 돌이켜 봅니다. 또 배움과 성장의 해였음을 회상해봅시다.

2020년 1월 20일은 미국의 리더 마틴 루터박사의 생일기념으로 공휴일입니다. 그는 소외된 소수자의 권익을 옹호했을 뿐 아니라 미국사회의 부유한 사람들에게도 영향을 크게 끼쳤습니다. 그의 두 가지 중요한 말을 소개합니다.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

어느 곳의 불의는 모든 곳의 정의를 위협합니다.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader of all humanity. 우리 인간은 자신만을 위한 이익 되는 일 에서 벗어나서 다른 모든 인간의 이익을 위해 살 때까지는 삶을 시작한 게 아닙니다.

초,중,고 자녀를 둔 학부모들에게 소개하고 싶는 책 두권 소개합니다.

1. HOW TO RAISE A READER by Pamela Paul & Maria Russo

초중고 자녀를 책읽는 아이로 만들기, 연령에 맞는 책을 소개하고 있으니 초중고 자녀에게 직접 책속에 소개해놓은 책 중 선택하라고 하세요.

2. “The Moon Before Morning” by W. S. Merwin

저의 북 클럽에도 제가 소개한 퓰리처상을 받은 미국시인의 시집입니다. 자연을 소재로 시를 많이 썼습니다. 너무 쉬워서 어른 뿐아니라 학생도 즐길 수 있습니다.

The holidays are a special time for experiencing joy, family, sharing, renewing and caring. They are also a time for reliving those special memories and histories of our family and culture.

These holidays are a time to stimulate our children with beautiful stories, songs, and activities of the season. Most of all, the holidays are a time to immerse our children in love, and Christmas lights symbolize an even more important light?the light of love for family and friends.

So, as we enter the month of December with its short days and clear, crisp weather, I suggest that we take a few moments to look both forward and back. As we look back at the year 2019, we can reflect upon a year of hard work, challenges, and accomplishments - a year of learning and growing. Please join me in wishing joy, peace, and health to our friends and families as we look forward to the promise of a new year.

For me, I am busier than ever after my retirement three years ago.

I am thankful for the opportunities for teaching at graduate schools, speaking invitations, travelling, learning, sharing and reading. I continue to share my 23-year experience as school principal, and my continuous learning. I have travelled to Russia, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, Panama Canal on a cruise, Ireland and England, and Brazil during these past three years.

On January 20, 2020, we will observe the birthday of an American leader who devoted his individual talent to the advancement of society. Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered for championing the causes of the disadvantaged. However, I believe Dr. King influenced the more prosperous members just as significantly.

His crusade was to inform the “strong” links that their individual strength meant little if other links were close to collapsing. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” These words reflect Dr. King’s belief in the “chain” of society. Thus, he believed that a person’s ultimate achievement was to contribute to one’s community, to needs other than one’s own. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

교육상담 drsuzieoh@gmail.com

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