Just Fly

2016-ArtHdr-term2-09

A key aspect in helping our students develop grit in their lives is for us to talk about it as teachers and parents. A powerful way to teach grit is to show students examples of it around them and in the world. This can be through books, articles, movies, etc.

Last year, in one of my Dalat News articles, I listed a number of movies that illustrate grit. I was at the movie theater earlier this year and saw a movie preview that literally screamed “grit” just in the two-minute preview itself. The movie is called Eddie the Eagle and is inspired by the story of Eddie Edwards who competed in the Calgary Olympics (1988) as a ski jumper for the country of England. I would encourage you to watch the movie preview and see if you can see the different aspects of grit we have been learning about just in the preview itself (long term goals, overcoming obstacles, handling failure, etc.).

The movie will premiere in Malaysia on 1 April. Here is a link to a review of the movie by Movie Guide for parents who might want to consider going to this movie with their kids. Please check out the review to make sure it is a movie you would like to take your kids to (I obviously have not seen the movie yet).

Here again is the list of movies suggested last year that do a great job of showing people what grit looks like and what it takes to have it. Take time to watch them with your kids and talk about what the movie is showing and teaching them about grit:

  • Unbroken: After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he’s caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
  • Cast Away: A FedEx executive must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive a crash landing on a deserted island.
  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: When his job, along with that of his co-worker’s job, are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world, embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.
  • Rudy: Rudy has always been told that he was too small to play college football. But he is determined to overcome the odds and fulfill his dream of playing for Notre Dame.
  • October Sky: The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner’s son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father’s wishes.
  • Amazing Grace: The idealist William Wilberforce manoeuvres his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.

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Dalat Director

Karl Steinkamp is passionate about Dalat International School and training up young people to make a positive impact on their world, walk with integrity, and follow Christ. Karl was a student at Dalat and returned with a degree in education as a student teacher, high school principal, and now Dalat Director since 2006.

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