Share the love.
REPOSTING THIS OFFERING IS AN ANNUAL, THANKSGIVING TRADITION. I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.
I am often amazed at the amount of effort it takes to keep a school up-and-running. When I consider it, I am in awe of the people power necessary to get the lights on, keep them on, unlock the doors, fire up the technology, learn the students’ names, observe the faculty, teach the classes, coach the kids and on and on and on.
It is a wonder it happens as consistently and as well as it does.
It might be worth our time, as educational leaders, to remember that and to set aside part of our calendar in our week to do something very, very important.
Share thanks, liberally.
Likely, we could schedule a full day a week for this activity and it would not be enough time.
Think about it. Think about all the people who make the work of your school possible.
Then thank some of them. It would be ideal to thank all of them, to be sure, but start small. Select some around you who deserve thanks. Single them out for your praise in a meeting. Send them an email. Write them a note. Give them a token.
Thank them.
The reality is none of us can run our schools alone. It takes more than a village. It takes a community.
I trust that you have been thanked, at one time or another, out of the blue, when you least expected it. I trust it made you feel good to receive that gratitude.
Share the love.
Imagine the feeling a custodian or a volunteer parent or a brand-new teacher or a long-term substitute might get from reading a card from you. You can change someone’s outlook with that kind of gratitude. You can surely change someone’s day.
Thanking those around us should be a far higher priority than most of us make it. Let us change that.