An attitude of gratitude

China has long been known for the Great Wall of China, but NRHEG Elementary School in Ellendale is just becoming known for its own greatness. Students have developed the Great Wall of Gratitude.
Over the past month students and staff members have been showing an attitude of gratitude by placing stickers on their school walls. They started after MEA break in October and the thanks just keep rolling in. There are now more than 1,000 multi-colored sticky notes adorning the hallways.
The students were challenged with thinking of something they are thankful for in their lives, said Brooke Krohn, a school social worker who organized the campaign. They were provided with sticky notes to make drawings, write a sentence or list words expressing their gratitude.
Krohn said she stumbled across the idea in an email from “Look for the Good Project” last spring during the COVID-19 quarantine. “I happened to click on it. This one stuck out to me because it looked so simple,” she explained.
She secured a sponsor for the project through Nick and Erin Budach of New Richland. They started a non-profit organization in 2018 in honor of their daughter, Finly, a first grader at NRHEG. She died of complications resulting from open heart surgery.
Krohn said Finly would have been in fourth grade this year so the project really hit home for the fourth graders. “That really made the connection for the students,” she said.
A group of 20 fourth and fifth graders volunteered to serve as leaders for the project. They recorded videos explaining gratitude and encouraging other students to share their gratitude. The videos were then played in each of the classrooms.
The team leaders include: Chrysantha Aronson, Sofia Bunn, Scarlett Chance, Sebastien Duffner, Kenley Gehrke, Alayna Groskreutz, Mallory Groskreutz, Klare Liverseed, Hunter McMann, Lyric Morgan, Emma Mortenson, Brynlee Neitzel, Alexis Olson, Avary Riskedahl, Hailly Sanchez, Brooklyn Sommer, Tru Thau, Christian Thompson, Quinn Wayne and Matthew Williams.
Krohn said the leaders have been especially excited about the project. “They are loving being a part of the videos and being with something that’s bigger than them,” she said.
Despite the hybrid learning model, the kids have been dedicated to the project and haven’t wasted any time in expressing their gratitude. They were given one sticky note for every day they were in school.
Krohn said so much of what's happening this year is out of anyone’s control because of the pandemic. But it’s different with gratitude. “We can control our mindset and attitude,” she said. “It has been a bright spot in our difficult school year.”
There have been a variety of responses. Some kids are thankful for pets or family members while others are grateful for the snow and playing outside. Sometimes it even gets more direct where students express gratitude for being alive. There was one who even expressed gratitude for lions, which are “part of the food chain,” the student wrote.
“There are some that just make me giggle,” Krohn said.
The project, Krohn said, has brought together all grades K-5 without necessarily being together. “It has made an impact seeing it,” she says. “It helps the kids find that healthy mindset and it sets the tone for the whole day or whole week,” she said.
The project wraps up just this week before Thanksgiving, but Krohn hopes to keep the Great Wall of Gratitude up for a while yet.
Bre Bethke, another social worker in the district, assisted Krohn with the project.