Leadership Blog - November 2019

Practicing Gratitude

By Kyle Arlington, Superintendent of Schools

Growing up I always hated the holiday tradition of going around the table and sharing what I was thankful for. It made me anxious and uneasy. Upon adult reflection, I think I hated the forced nature of it; how little it meant if acknowledging what I was grateful for only happened on the last Thursday of November.

As schools nationwide, including Kenilworth’s, focus more heavily on social-emotional learning, growth mindset, and the power of using an admiring lens, I am hopeful that an additional way we may make home-to-school partnerships is in our encouragement of our kids to practice gratitude.

Here are a few ways I’ve been reading about and practicing lately at home with my own little ones:

• Saying “thank you” like you mean it.

• Looking for awe-inspiring moments and sharing them.

• Volunteering.

• Keeping a gratitude jar; adding to it whenever you want to recognize someone or something for which you are grateful.

• Taking a family challenge one Saturday: commit to focusing on the positive for the entire day. No complaining. No moaning. No belly-aching.

I hope that together we may continue to raise and educate our children in a way that makes them cognizant of all that they have to be grateful for. There’s always something.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Kenilworth Schools!