Dearest Great Grandmaster,

An Inspirer, An Empower, An Engager. These three characteristics are just a short sample of the many your school demonstrate with all your students every single day, including our children Dylan and Ryan Navarro. We had the privilege to witness incredible moments at last night’s event. One in particular hit too close to home for us which drove the motivation to write you this letter.

We realized that too often many of your students progress through the ropes of life and do not invest the time to express their gratitude and authentic value for the support you and your masters/instructors so eagerly share for their growth, as not only students, but also as global citizens of society. As parents watching from the outside, you promote an environment where we feel like we are co-learning with our children and for that we are forever grateful.

Dylan is currently a purple belt scheduled to test for his blue belt next month. He has been training for a little over 2 years now. The amount of wisdom he has for a 7 year old is beyond our comprehension. We knew what we wanted for our children from the moment they were born. However, we did not expect that at a tender age of 7, one of them would already be teaching us life’s greatest lessons. He taught us the concept of “expect the unexpected”, and he applies it to his everyday life. Dylan helps us tremendously with his younger brother, and acts like the 3rd parent of our household. He reminds us to be patient when he senses our frustrations and even tells me to take a deep breath “you can do it mom” every now and then. Our 7 y/o helps calm us down and tells us to think of a happy place with just the 4 of us to avoid heated arguments. He also prays for the safety of his family and friends every night. Ryan has a long ways to go but we are very hopeful for him.

There is absolutely no reason for us to wait until Dylan tests for his Black Belt to express our gratitude to you and your instructors. We already see tremendous growth in him in this short amount of time. His work ethic is unmatched at his age at school and all the sports activities he is involved in. Every teacher, coach, and athletic directors acknowledges this.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the 2 young individuals who help you run JSW, Mr. Palmer & Ms. Nabi. Their dedication for what they do is nothing short of inspiring to all. Most people their age are only worried about themselves and what to do on a Friday night. These two exert so much effort that goes above and beyond their call of duty for their students, yet we feel are still under appreciated at times by some. They see the uniqueness and individualities of our two sons and manages to work on their strengths to bring out the best in them separately.

We are honored to have both of our children learn from them and continue to share your teachings with others.

Respectfully yours,
Cathleen and Michael Navarro

Sept 13, 2015

This letter was reprinted with permission.

Cathleen Navarro is pictured at the top of page.