Cooperation & Overcoming Disappointment

The Lower School students began the new calendar year with an emphasis on the emotional intelligence characteristics of Cooperation and Overcoming Disappointment. These are two foundational characteristics of emotional intelligence, especially among young children.

One of the many intrinsic benefits of a Woods Academy education is learning to cooperate with one another including classmates and teachers. Being a cooperative student can help children learn how to work together, do what is asked of them and how to be a good team player.

•  The lives of famous people are examined through the lens of cooperation, such as Martin Luther King who wrote, "We may have come on different ships, but we’re on the same boat now.” 

• Also, Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize winner and President of South Africa, so wisely stated that “If you want to make peace with your enemy, then you have to work with your enemy. Then, he becomes your partner.”
   

Emphasis is also placed on studying overcoming disappointment by learning about famous failures throughout history. For example:

• How Abraham Lincoln, who had no more than 5 years of formal education, had 12 major failures before he was elected the 16th President of the United States

• How Walt Disney, one of the most- known motion picture producers in the world, started his own business from his garage and his very first cartoon production went bankrupt.
   

Emotional intelligence awareness helps us all to better cooperate with others and to overcome disappointment.