An Iowa farmer won many national championships year after year for growing the best seed corn.  Every year as he developed a better strain of corn he shared his improved seed with his neighbors.  A newspaperman thought this procedure very strange and asked the farmer why he helped those who might be his most serious competitors.  The farmer explained that if he allowed his neighbors to grow poor corn, the bees and the wind would carry the pollen from their fields and pollinate his crop.  Therefore, the better his neighbor's corn, the greater his chances would be to win the championship. 

The success of every Esperanza educator and staff member helps everyone achieve a higher level of accomplishment.  This is true for the Esperanza scholars, too.  Therefore, it makes sense to support one another in achieving success.

No Man Is An Island

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

John Donne :

 

 

Joan Baez put the following John Donne's words to music that would be great for every Esperanza scholar to learn:

 

No man is an island,
No man stands alone,
Each man's joy is joy to me,
Each man's grief is my own.


We need one another,
So I will defend,
Each man as my brother,
Each man as my friend.


I saw the people gather,
I heard the music start,
The song that they were singing,
Is ringing in my heart.


No man is an island,
Way out in the blue,
We all look to the one above,
For our strength to renew.


When I help my brother,
Then I know that I,
Plant the seed of friendship,
That will never die.