A Thanksgiving week challenge
I had a special opportunity helping at the school last week. The principal had the idea for each child to write two thank you notes. We went to the classrooms, surprising the teachers, asking them to leave and go enjoy a snack in the teachers’ lounge. After they left we told the plan to the students and let them get to work on the notes. They wrote one note to one of their grade level teachers. The other was for someone else who works at the school like the music teacher, instructional aides, nurse, custodians, or cafeteria workers.
After we collected them all, I began to divide them for each teacher. I had to pause and read some of the words. I was so touched by how some of the children expressed themselves and the things for which they were thanking their teachers.
Thank you for letting us do fun science experiments.
Thank you for teaching me origami.
Thank you for helping us be healthy and active.
Thank you for taking care of me when I was wounded.
Thank you for helping me when I’m confused.
Thank you for being my bus driver.
Thank you for smiling at me.
As I read the notes I was struck by how these were from the hearts of students with no prompting of who to write or what to say. We only gave them a list of names from which to choose. Also, as I sorted them into piles, I was just amazed at how there were multiple notes for every single teacher. All of the teachers and aides were thanked.
I wondered what the teachers will think as they read them. I hope they see what a difference they make daily in their students’ lives by being there every day. They are all touching lives, one student at a time in their own unique ways. And all of these ways matter to the students. I hope as they read the notes they will see that what they do does matter. Even the things that may seem insignificant were important in the life of a child.
As this is Thanksgiving week, I challenge you to write a thank you note to someone in your life who may not get much thanks. Appreciate them for something they’ve done that has had an impact on your life. It may be something they did last week or something they did twenty years ago that you still remember.
“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.” I Thessalonians 1:2
Who will you send a thank you note to this week?
It is so sweet that the children wrote those notes to the people they spend a great part of their day with. Thank you for sharing, Bethany.