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PAHS Events and Activities » Students participate in Operation Gratitude through Leader in Me

Students participate in Operation Gratitude through Leader in Me

Students at Punxsutawney Area High School recently participated in Operation Gratitude as part of their monthly Leader in Me activity.  

Leader in Me is a comprehensive K-12 program that nurtures student leadership, fosters a culture of trust, and boosts academic success.  As part of the program, students within the high school are divided into groups that meet monthly with two assigned mentors where they participate in an activity that focuses on their grade level’s Leader in Me curriculum.

For example, in the 8th and 9th grade sections, students participate in the “Find Your Voice” curriculum which, according to the Leader in Me website, “helps students recognize their present worth and future potential and is a career-readiness course that empowers students with the critical interpersonal skills necessary to thrive in the workplace and beyond.”

 

A large proponent of the Leader in Me program is empowering leaders.  The activities for each monthly meeting are designed by the student leadership team known as “The Student Lighthouse Committee.”   The month’s activity, in light of upcoming Veterans Day, engaged students in Operation Gratitude.

“For this activity, students were involved in a service-learning project that had them decorating and writing cards that will be given to current and retired members of our military.  It was gratifying to see students taking the initiative in completing this project and knowing that their completed projects will only serve to brighten someone else's day when they read the messages sent by our PAHS students,” commented Mr. Darrin Kriebel, a learning support teacher at PAHS who is a mentor for one of the 8th grade groups.

According to the organization, Operation Gratitude’s mission is “to say Thank You to our Military and First Responder communities, and to honor their service by creating opportunities for all Americans to express gratitude.”  The organization boasts having sent over 4.1 million care packages to our military and first responders since 2003.  Every student in the high school participated by creating “thank you” cards to be included in their care packages.