Finding the "Thanks" in Thanksgiving . . .

I have often used this blog to communicate the life that surrounds and is within the Global School of Silicon Valley. As we approach the time of Thanksgiving, I wanted to pause for a moment and thank those people who make our school and our lives so much better.

The missive that follows is my annual Thanksgiving message to the faculty and staff. Though this year is different from the past in many ways, never have my thoughts been more genuine and heartfelt . . .

Despite the fact that the world around us seems currently overshadowed by uncertainty, I wanted to take a moment to share with you what I am truly thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

Topping that list would have to be our community here at the Global School. Through your own hard work, sweat, and even tears, you have crafted a place where our students are the center of our day, where their learning and growth are paramount, and most importantly, where they can be happy and joyful while exercising their intellect and discovering new things. Global School is a place that children cannot wait to get to on school day mornings, and cannot bear to leave at the end of the day. Few schools, if any, can boast the same.

I am thankful as well for each of you "veterans" - those of you who have been at the school from the beginning or near beginning. You have weathered a great deal in your time here, and I admire your strength, your resilience, and your aplomb. You have stayed for many reasons, but most of all, I like to think you have stayed because of the vision of the school and the students that we teach. I think it is obvious, that no matter how the chips may fall in the next few weeks, we will never again find a better combination of vision, community, and cooperation than we have right here. To your everlasting credit, we would never have achieved what we did here at Global School without your wisdom and experience - scars and all.

I am grateful also to the "newbies" - those of you who joined us this year. Your energy and enthusiasm had a galvanizing effect on everyone. Your ideas, initiatives, and just plain gumption - unencumbered by the strings of our past - have had a profound and positive impact on everyone. In joining our becalmed ship over the summer, you helped bring us new life and a clearer meaning to our mission.

Most importantly, all of you - either veteran or newbie - have more often than not, put aside the petty jealousies and bickering that so often characterize other schools, and have worked together - frequently in the face of great odds - to bring the school's vision to life. Indeed, each child who has had the privilege of attending Global School and working with you as their teachers, has had their own life enriched beyond measure.

If you recall nothing else from these Thanksgiving thoughts and meanderings, and certainly from your time here at Global School, please remember this always:

Each and everyone one of you has made your students' present and future richer for having been here and having learned from you. Though it may turn out that our time with them was brief, you have touched their minds and their spirits in innumerable and magical ways. Years from now, they will fondly recall their joy, their discoveries, and their teachers in the best of all possible lights. They will never forget their time at Global School and the time they spent with you.

Frankly, neither will I . . .

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bob