Dear Spartan Families,

Did you know that by just choosing to send your student to GHWH you have already given them a 6% learning boost compared to their peers who attend a school where screens are the modus operandi for learning and where there is no regulation on the distraction of a cell phone? According to research by Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy, published by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, after schools banned mobile phones, the test scores of students aged 16 improved by 6.4%. The economists reckon that this is the “equivalent of adding five days to the school year.”

Dr. Kardaras, the author of Glow Kids and Digital Madness: How Social Media is Driving Our Mental Health Crisis, goes even further to say that because of the prevalence of cell phones students are losing the ability to connect with each other in face to face communication. “According to a 2015 Pew Research Center study of millennial communication habits, published in the American Psychological Association’s journal Psychology of Popular Media, “Text messaging has increased dramatically over the past 10 years,” and many teenage texters share addict-like symptoms and behaviors. The researchers indicated that such teens have a lot in common with compulsive gamblers including loss of sleep because of the activity, problems cutting back on the activity, and a tendency to lie to cover up the amount of time they are doing it. The study of more than 400 eighth- and 11th-graders found that only 35 percent of teens socialize face-to-face anymore, compared with a whopping 63 percent of teens who now communicate mostly via text message and average 167 texts per day.”

Furthermore, Dr. Kardaras warns parents about how doom scrolling through social media is connected to the rise in depression and other mental health issues facing a growing number of teenagers today. In his article for the NY Post How social media is literally making teens mentally ill he not only describes the problem social media can be for our teenagers, he offers a solution that every Spartan can admire!

So while it’s always a good idea to both limit and delay a person’s use of social media, it’s critically important to become a modern day Philosopher-Warrior in order to develop the grit and resilience of a Spartan and the critical thinking, curiosity and intellect of an ancient philosopher by adhering to the following tips:

1. BUILD GRIT AND RESILIENCE. According to psychologist Angela Duckworth (the author of “Grit”), we develop grit by leaning in to experiences, and thus allowing ourselves to make mistakes that we can learn from — and we NEVER quit. 

2. FIND A PURPOSE THAT RESONATES FOR YOU. As mythologist Joseph Campbell said, “Find your bliss.” With purpose comes passion and a clarity of one’s identity and place in the world — and thus we become less likely to be sucked into influencer nonsense. 

3. MAINTAIN A PHYSICAL PRACTICE. Healthy body, healthy mind. Whether you develop a daily walking routine, start practicing yoga or are training for a decathlon, keep yourself moving — it’s the best anti-depressant as exercise raises endorphin levels, creates a healthy sense of accomplishment, and helps the mind stay sharp—thus immunizing it from toxic social media.

4. READ CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY. From Plato, Socrates, the Stoics and Marcus Aurelius. Ancient wisdom has a time-tested transcendent quality that elevates a person—and doesn’t debase and weaken the reader like superficial tweets or posts aimed at our baser instincts. The ancients also teach us how to cultivate the sanity-sustaining skill of critical thinking.

5. HELP OTHERS. The modern digital world is built to create egocentric narcissism as algorithms curate a me-centric digital world. Break that pattern by focusing on helping others — by volunteering, mentoring or simply being kind to a neighbor. Manifesting the value of altruism is the antidote to the shallow values of prioritizing followers or generating views or likes. 

6. BE CREATIVE. BE BORED. Find opportunities to channel your creative self — by writing, painting, drawing—whatever it may be. Creativity is the antidote to the conforming group-think of social media. And when not creating, give yourself permission to be bored and to daydream. After all, boredom is the handmaiden of creativity. When we’re perpetually information over-loaded, there is no space for creative thought or for the mind to roam and wander and be curious—all critical ingredients in feeling self-actualized and not media-dependent.

Enjoy the lovely fall weather and spend some time out of doors with your teenager … be like a Spartan … be a Philosopher-Warrior!

Trinette Keffer

Headmaster of Upper School

Attendance

Attendance matters! Here’s why:



• Our campus funding is dependent on scholars attending school. This is the number one way WH receives funding from the state.
• The amount we receive from the state is based on our average daily attendance. Every day your scholar attends school our campus receives over $45 in state funding. 

How you can help us:

• If your scholar is out sick, please send an email or doctor's note to our attendance mailbox at attendance@greatheartswesternhills.org for each day(s) your scholar is out sick.
• Please be sure to have your scholar in their classes when attendance is taken each day at 9:50 AM.

Complete Stops in the Afternoon Carline

In an effort to maximize student safety during the afternoon carline, we are asking all drivers to place their cars in park once they have passed the crosswalk and come to a stop.

Please do not attempt to fill in any gaps once students are released from the curb to walk the carline horseshoe. It is vital to everyone’s safety that cars remain in park until the remaining students have returned to the curb and the traffic captain has signaled to release vehicles.

Spartans, we have been working hard to get our weight room in order for our scholars to use! We hope to have a Grand Opening in the second semester, but we need your help! We have the racks, and we have the benches, but now we need the supplies.

If you have any of the following which you would be interested in donating to our gym, please reach out to Coach Disney:

• Barbells (35 lb or 45 lb, 2-inch diameter)
• Weights ( 4 sets of 45 lb plates, 4 sets of 25 lb plates, 8 sets of 10 lb plates, 4 sets of 5 lb plates, and 4 sets of 2.5 lb plates with 2-inch diameter).
• Trap Bars (also known as Hex Bars)
• Dumbbells or Kettlebells in the following weights: 8 lbs, 10 lbs, 15 lbs, 20 lbs, 25 lbs

To donate gently used or new weight room donations, please reach out to Ryan Travis for more info.