Tree of Gratitude at Memorial Park Elementary
By Jody ThomasThe Tree of Gratitude at Memorial Park Elementary started in 2019 and has become a highly anticipated yearly tradition. Using creativity, students and staff decorate the tree with ornaments that express their gratitude for another individual, an act of kindness, or anything for which they want to express appreciation. The ornaments are saved each year and displayed in gratitude jars under the tree.
This is a school wide tradition we started in 2019 when we became a P2 Partner School. In early November, we set up a tree with lights at the entrance to the school. Our tree topper is made by the art teacher, and it says, “MPS Gives Thanks.”
Everyone in the building gets an email that says: During this VERY BUSY time of year, let us slow down enough to show some gratitude and make some memories. This gratitude ritual is something that makes this time of year special at MPS. It’s something we all build together and enjoy together. (For all the new folks, we keep each year’s gratitude tags and put them under the tree for years to come). Teachers, in your mailboxes you will receive a baggie with tags to make our gratitude “ornaments”. Please ask your students to draw and/or write about something in their lives they are thankful for. It can be anything they appreciate in the world around them, whether it was a kind act, someone who pops into their mind that day, or something more abstract. Encourage creativity and color.
The tree soon becomes full of our “ornaments,” brightening the season. After Christmas, I take all the tags and put them in the jar, labeling it with the year and putting a ribbon on it. We display those jars under the tree every year. This will be our sixth year, and the whole school looks forward to the tree being put up and decorated. Pictures below!
