Gratitude
Student artwork illustrates what they appreciate, honor, and respect about N’dakinna, or land, at GUS.
In my family, Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday. When I think about why that is, it’s not about yummy food or holiday hooplah, it’s about the simplicity in how my family celebrates. For us, this is a time to slow down, come together, and take a moment to be grateful for life’s many blessings. Every year, there seem to be more reasons to be thankful. Over the last few years, the reasons to be grateful keep multiplying, especially here at GUS.
As I reflect on all that I am grateful for this year, I am certainly thankful for the opportunity to lead this special school through these unique times. There have been challenges we could not have foreseen, but together, we have shown we can get through anything. Personally, the love and pride I feel for our school community fills me up and I know these feelings have helped us all get through these difficult times. As I’ve said before, the trust, the kindness, and the flexibility demonstrated by all members of the GUS community has truly made all the difference. Thank you to everyone, parents and students, for everything you bring to our community and for standing with us as we tackle every challenge.
More than anything, I am thankful for our faculty and staff - for all they do everyday - especially during these last few months. They are a special group of dedicated professionals that give not only their expertise, but also so much heart. This passion for what they do is evident in large moments like Grandfriends Day, which was so amazing, but also in the quieter ones, like a thumbs up after a student presentation or an extra minute after class for a check-in. You can hear that heart in the piece Jeffrey Bartsch has written for this Tartan. His every word is filled with what I have known since the first moment I met him: Jeffrey is a magical teacher and a gift to his students. How grateful we are for his contributions, and those of his colleagues, to the classroom and to our community. That same dedication also came through in our land acknowledgment - a project that grew out of a faculty commitment to honoring the indigenous people who first inhabited the land we now know as Glen Urquhart School. At GUS, our teachers and staff are truly everything and I know I speak for everyone when I share how grateful we are for their innovative and creative thinking and planning, their dedication to doing all they can for our students, and the love and joy they bring to all that they do. Here at GUS, we are the luckiest.
So as we all head off to celebrate with our families, may we all take a moment to slow down and share our gratitude for our special GUS community. For the love, joy, and dedication demonstrated by all members of our school family, and may our hearts swell with gratitude. For all members of our GUS family - past or present, parent or child, teacher or student - may these next few days find you wrapped in the warmth of love and gratefulness, and may that warmth sustain us all through whatever may come as we continue to trust and go forward together.
With a grateful heart,
Gretchen Forsyth
Head of School