By Colegio Nueva Granada Healthy NewsWorks correspondents | Editor’s note: This article was compiled from research and interviews conducted by fourth graders at CNG. The students who contributed include Evelyn Rose Bonner, Maria Luiza Vaquero Durand, Emilio Sardi Guzman, Lorenzo Torres Pinzon, Ana Garcia Jaramillo, Juan Antonio Terrassa Lulle, Emilia Fernandez Ghio, Antonia Villegas Fina, Sophie Rose Velez, Alicia Canela Rueda, Alicia Polo, and Carter Rae Winston
Gratitude is important to everyone, and you can make someone’s day if you’re kind and say a simple “thank you,” say teachers at Colegio Nueva Granada (CNG). It will make you feel good too, experts say.
Ms. Gaby, a substitute teacher at the international school in Bogota, Colombia, encourages everyone to be grateful “not for a price, but for a smile.”
“Gratitude is awesome and makes me feel good,” said Ms. Gaby. Research shows that as Ms. Gaby said, the more you express gratitude to others, the more likely you’ll have positive emotions as well, such as happiness and satisfaction.
“I think that changes someone’s day if you are kind…I think we need to practice more,” said Ms. Fernanda Rojas, a fourth-grade teacher known as Ms. Fer. “Be grateful for what you have, because some people would die to be you and to have what you have.”
According to the website KidsHealth.org, some acts of gratitude you can do include holding a door open for someone, giving someone a bright smile, shaking a hand, giving a hug, or offering a fist bump. The website says these acts help us and them because it makes them have a better day and makes us feel good too. It can also strengthen your relationships with people in your life.
Gratitude is one of the important lessons that Ms. Jessica Spicker, a second-grade teacher, has taught her children. “Seeing my kids succeed makes me feel happy and grateful for my children,” she said. One of her most grateful moments was when her 23-year-old son was accepted to the Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands for his master’s degree.
Ms. Jessica said she teaches her youngest daughter how gratitude can be shown. “Every day I encourage my kids to say one or two things that they are grateful for every day!” she said.
Ms. Fer said she shows gratitude by helping. “I volunteer at church, helping my family, helping students, and these are some things I do to show gratitude,” she said.
Mr. Gaines, the music teacher, said gratitude has helped him enjoy the little moments of life, such as when he wakes up and enjoys his coffee or when he entered the school and got a job that he loves. He is also grateful that he and all his family are healthy.
By expressing gratitude you “show an appreciation about the positive things about life,” said David Saranchuk, an elementary teacher known as Mr. S. He also said that sometimes life is so busy we have to stop and think about how awesome and cool it is to have those positive things. Mr. S, the father of a newborn, tries to help his wife as much as he can.
Ms. Kelly, a teacher who worked in the military, said she is thankful for “every little detail in my life.” She loves her family more than anything in the world and says “thank you” to them a lot to have a good relationship with them. But she wishes she would hear “thank you” in return more.
Mrs. Heather Sisson, a science teacher at CNG, said one important way to show gratitude is to treat people well—“talking to them in a good way that they like, saying ‘thank you’ or sending notes,” she said. “But the biggest thing is to show that you treat people the way you want to be treated.” Even during Covid, she said she took time every morning to say three things she was grateful for.
Mrs. Van, the library teacher, gave a simple way to show gratitude. “All you need to do is show gratitude back,” she said.
Illustrations by Healthy NewsWorks Core Reporters.
