Happy Thanksgiving!

A grateful spirit is welcome all year long!

Our annual Veterans Day observance in the Bronner’s Performing Arts Center was amazing.

You couldn’t help be touched by the care and talent that went into the morning program.

Principal Jill Waliczek, music teacher Carina Pisani, the 4th grade choir, and every student and staff member at List Elementary provided a moving tribute to the dedication and sacrifice of our military men and women through variety of songs, colorful displays, expressions of appreciation, and media presentations. 

The highlight for all involved that snowy morning, was the reception line in the lobby right after the ceremony, where every student, staff member, and I were privileged to shake the hand of every veteran in attendance and thank them personally.

There’s a special connection between our students and our local veterans that’ll warm your heart.

Like I said, our Veterans Day observance was amazing.

Along with the valuable reminder that the freedoms we all enjoy come with a cost our nation’s veterans have been more than willing to bear through the years, I learned something else that day. It was a lesson inspired by what I saw up close and personal that both inside our auditorium during the observance and outside in the lobby afterward. It’s a lesson I think each one of us might want to consider carrying forward into the Thanksgiving and holiday season. 

That lesson is this: Let’s seek to find ways we can model the devotion and steadfastness of our veterans.

The blessings we have today came from their effort – and from all of the loved ones in our lives who have given us their support and encouragement. We’ve never had to go it alone.

And these folks didn’t complain or ask for life’s blessings to flow THEIR way.

Rather, they cared about us and sacrificed to create blessings that would come OUR way.

Whoa!

That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.

And you know what? You and I can do it, too. We can follow in the footsteps of our veterans. We just have to be ready to be a blessing to others with every opportunity that comes our way.