The #Gratitude Challenge

I simply cannot believe June is happening this week.  It seems like it was just yesterday that all MPS faculty and staff were gathering in the high school auditorium to be welcomed back for this school year.  In the blink of an eye, we have only ten school days left.  As I have been in each of my first four years in MPS, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and for the growth that has taken place in our district this year.

One of the many educators in my PLN whom I am grateful to connect with via Twitter is Rich Czyz(@RACzyz) and he publishes a blog post called 4 O'Clock Faculty with Trevor Bryan (@trevorabryan).  In May, one of the posts was called "The Gratitude Challenge," and it inspired me.  In turn, they were inspired by a high school English teacher, Dan Tricarico (@thezenteacher).  Tricarico wrote a book called The Zen Teacher and at the end of each chapter has a challenge.  Czyz adapted the challenge at the end of the chapter called Gratitude.

So, I too accept the Zen Teacher assignment and choose to express my gratitude.

1.  I am grateful for the support of My Wife and Children for all the work that I do.  I could not serve this community without their consistent affirmation and understanding.

2.  I am grateful for The Leadership Team, people who I truly feel humbled to serve MPS with but almost as importantly, who I would choose to be friends with if I met them in a non-professional setting.

3.  I am grateful for the teachers in MPS, who work unbelievably hard to engage a variety of students, meeting them where they are, and inspiring them to learn and grow by cultivating and maintaining safe spaces for everyone.

4.  I am grateful for the instructional assistants, who make substantive contributions to the educational process in MPS in a variety of ways that positively impact learning and relationships in our classrooms and buildings.

5.  I am grateful for the administrative support staff, who manage relationships, offices, schedules, and details in a way that is subtle but clear, keeping the trains running on time.

6.  I am grateful for the food service professionals, who balance the mandates from the federal and state governments, while at the same time striving to put food on the trays that our students will eat and want to come back for seconds.

7.  I am grateful for our facilities professionals, who have demonstrated a level of stewardship that has set the tone for a whole school approach to cleanliness and care that resonates throughout the district.

8.  I am grateful for a Board of School Commissioners who take seriously their role of financial management, their evaluation of me as superintendent, as well as their desire to see this community's values reflected in educational programming.

So what are you grateful for?  I offer the gratitude challenge to you.  Take the #Gratitude Challenge and share what you are thankful for this year.