“What are you thankful for this year?”

“My new job.”

“What do you do at your new job?”

“I teach gymnastics at Olympiad West.”

“Why did you apply for a job teaching gymnastics?”

“I really enjoyed my classes and I wanted to help others become better gymnasts.”

“How did you become involved with gymnastics?”

“I was watching the Olympics a few years ago and I thought it was really cool, so three years ago I found a gym and I’ve just kept with it.”

“How often are you working?”

“Right now, I’m only working Saturday nights, but starting in January, when I’m 15 and ½ I can start to work more.”

– Joe Roseman, 9

“What are you thankful for this holiday season?”

“I’m thankful I’m learning to prioritize.”

“Describe how you are better prioritizing your life.”

“I’m making sure to spend more time with my family and friends before I go to college instead of just focusing on academics and my extracurriculars.”

“When did you realize you needed to start prioritizing?”

“When I realized I was too focused on my stress to take the time to reach out to others, I knew there needed to be a change in my life.”

-Elizabeth Newell, 12

“What are you thankful for this year?”

“I’m thankful for my family, they are always really supportive of me and always encourage me to try my best. I’m especially thankful my siblings take the time to check to see how I’m doing even though they don’t live at home anymore.”

“What has it been like not having your siblings at home?”

“Really quiet. It’s also taught me that there are some people in your life who you should be thankful for because when they aren’t there you really notice. I realized I had to be more deliberate in my relationships with my siblings when they are away at college.”

-Maggie Morse, 10

“Is there anything in specific you are thankful for this year?”

“Well, I was actually talking about this with my wife, and I would say I’m thankful that we have a whole day devoted to being grateful for what we have. I love Thanksgiving because I feel it’s less commercialized than some other holidays and it’s all about spending time with family.  I have two grandkids, one’s five and the other’s three, and a grandson to be born on Jan 4  who I can’t wait to see over our break. I’m really thankful for them, and you know, I’m getting to be a little bit older. I’m thinking, I’m 66, and I probably have 20 years of life left. Now, I don’t feel morose about that but it’s got me thinking about what I want to do in these 20 years. I’ve decided that one of the things I want to do is to leave a book of poetry for my grandchildren in which I tell them, teach them, the things that have made me joyful in life. Right before you talked me, in my blog, Graced by Life, my last entry was Thanks from Potsy, that’s me. My granddaughter calls me Pots. So I had written this poem and I realized that I had given thanks for all the things that are important to me. Now it’s not the most literary thing, but I wanted this book to be a collection of things children can read without having to analyze it for literary excellence. At any rate, here’s Thanks from Potsy:

Time for Thanks

always take precious time

to give thanks

today

I give thanks

for

the K-man and

his creative, super-hero

love for life

for

Miss B

her sense of style and

strong sense of self

for Sarah and

her taking care of so many people

for

Andy and

his love for his family

for

Michael and

his gentle care for all of us

for Kim and

her fully opening her heart to us

for sweet baby Jobst and

all he will be

especially for Mickey

the love of my life and

her faithfulness

in love and care

for my God

my great friend.”

– Lou Jobst, MOSAICS academy specialist

“What are you thankful for?”

“My siblings.”

“How many siblings do you have?”

“I have seven siblings.”

“What’s it been like growing up with so many kids in your house?”

“It’s always very, very busy and loud! And it definitely teaches you to be willing share and to appreciate time you get to be by yourself. Having so many siblings also has taught me how to be generous with whatever I have. Oh, and I’m never lonely, I’m grateful we always have lots of fun.”

“What are some fun things you have done with your siblings?”

“I traveled across the country with my two older brothers, Joe, the sophomore, and James, he’s out of college. Annie, she’s a senior went, with us too – shout out to Annie! It was a ton of fun.”

-Jane Fuller, 9

“What are you thankful for?”

“I’m thankful for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the movie, ‘This is America, Charlie Brown’.”

“What makes watching the Macy’s parade special for you?”

“I always watch it with my family and I love the balloons and the floats.”

“What do you like about ‘This is America, Charlie Brown’?”

“It has Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Sally, Schroder, Peppermint Patty, Snoopy, and Woodstock in it. I always watch that with my family too.”

– Holt Priest, 11

“What are you thankful for this year?”

“The nurse.”

“Why are you thankful for her?”

“Because she is always nice to me.”

-Adam Selm, 12

“What are you thankful for?”

“I’m thankful for my band family because they always support me and they are really good friends and people. I’m always thankful for my family, but this year I’m also thankful Natalie is staying with us because now that both of my sisters are away at college this was the first year I didn’t have a sister at home – but now I have one again!

“What’s it been like having Natalie living with you?”

“It’s been really cool. It’s been a really neat experience to have someone living in your house that you are still getting to know. I’ve lived with my family for 16 years, but living with Natalie is awesome because I learn new things about her every day.”

– Julie Whitten, 11

“What are you grateful for this holiday season?”

“Of course my family and good health, but this year I’m especially thankful for my retirement in 124 days!”

“What do you plan on doing once you are retired?”

“Travel. I can’t wait to visit Hawaii and Germany.”

“Is there a special reason you plan on visiting those places in particular?”

“Well, Hawaii is the only state my husband hasn’t visited, so after our trip he’ll have been to all 50 states! Germany is also very special to us because that is where my husband is from so it’ll be very nice to visit his native country one last time.”

-Ann Lehmann, attendance secretary

“What are you thankful for?”

“I’m thankful that for the opportunity I had to attend a leadership conference with many of my friends in September.”

“What did you do at the conference?”

“We attended lots of workshops and I became at Missouri Thespian Officer. Later this year I will attend national workshops to learn how to improve our school’s already awesome theater department ”

“How did you become a Missouri Thespian Officer?”

“I had to decide before the conference if I wanted to run for office or not. I’m really thankful for Mrs. Gossett and Ezgi Ilhan, who graduated last year and was a state officer before me. They really helped me prepare for what I would say during Q and A sessions and helped calm my nerves.”

– Tristan Johnson, 11

“What are you thankful for this year?”

“My new grandchild who was born a week ago.”

“What’s his name?”

“Clark Joseph.”

“What is it like to be a grandmother?”

“Well, most people say ‘you get to get your kids back’ when they have of kids of their own, but not me! I’m very excited for Thanksgiving when I get to see him. I’m obsessed.”

– Renee Broemmelsick, FACS teacher

“What are you thankful for this year?”

“I’m thankful that we have so many opportunities where we live. I think often times we take things for granted, like education and having a safe place to live. All these things give us such a good life and so many opportunities, so I can shape my life in anyway I want to. I can be whoever I want to be, believe in whatever I want to believe, and I can get involved in so many different things. And a lot of people don’t have amenities like that, especially the privilege of an education. I know a lot of times we don’t appreciate these opportunities, so it’s so amazing that we have the freedom to create yourself.

“What is a specific opportunity that you have been especially appreciative of this year?”

“A lot of people don’t have the opportunity to go to school, much less play an organized sport like Cross Country. It’s been amazing being a part of the Cross Country team because of the people you meet, and seeing how much you develop yourself and helping others grow too. You do things you never thought you could, you just build so many qualities. You are building yourself while having so much fun! I love all the cross country girls and even the coaches – kinda. Just kidding! More than anything, I’m just so thankful for the opportunity to do it even though my dad made do it.”

“Your dad made you do it?”

“Yea, actually freshman year I didn’t want to run, so my dad made me. But now I can’t imagine my high school career without it. My first year he made me and I was just terrified. It was an opportunity that I didn’t want to take because I was so scared, but once I did it was the best decision I have ever made looking back. This sounds so cheesy but it’s totally true, I would not be the person I am today if I hadn’t run cross country because of the qualities it builds in you and because of all of the amazing people I met because of it. So anybody who wants to do cross country should totally get involved! Seriously, I didn’t want to do it, but it changed my life.”

“You said that you were scared about taking the opportunity to run cross country, do you think the fear of seizing opportunities in common in our area?”

“Oh yeah, for sure. It’s either that or because they don’t like being pushed out of their comfort zone because we truly have such an easy life compared to other places in the world. Taking risks is scary and its new, but I think it’s important for us to step outside of our comfort zone so we can grow. When you do something courageous, it changes you, and it starts to mold you into the person you are going to be for the rest of your life.”

– Maddy Brown, 12