This year marks a joyous occasion. Mrs. Cipriani, the teacher beloved by all, who was already involved with Educators Rising and National Honor Society, has become the school’s positivity enforcer. She had already come up with the pumpkin game to celebrate Halloween, where teachers had to go around and see which of their coworkers had pumpkins for them to steal. This time, to promote gratefulness amongst the school faculty for Thanksgiving, Mrs. Cip has come up with a fun activity to build connections among the school staff and give them something else to focus on other than work.
Faculty received an envelope of five turkey feathers with the names of different teachers and faculty members around the school. It was their job to come up with something they were grateful for or liked about each of the five faculty members. For example, they could say, “I’m grateful that you always show up with a positive attitude and a readiness to get stuff done” or “I’m grateful that you care so much about your peers and students.” After they had written their messages on the feathers, they would put them in the envelope and return them to Mrs. Cip. After this, Mrs. Cip would task her students to collect the turkey feathers and stick them on the cut-out turkey of the corresponding teacher.
To get a clear view of her reasoning for this, Mrs. Cip was asked why this and why this year, to which she commented: “Teaching is emotionally demanding, and teacher morale directly impacts student learning. High school teachers juggle heavy workloads (professional AND personal), behavior management, grading, planning, parent contact, extracurricular duties, and emotional support for teens. When positivity spreads & morale is high, teachers show more patience, more creativity in lessons, higher engagement, and better classroom climate. Students benefit immediately! Even small acts of appreciation help ALL teachers feel valued. With some negative reports on WAHS, I wanted to make sure each teacher knew their importance, because at times – we are not really seen as ‘human’, but almost like machines. I struggle with my mental well-being at times, especially in times of holidays because of managing professional and personal life to make sure I am 100% for my students and 100% for my family – if small acts of kindness adds smiles, more enthusiasm and more welcoming interactions with students and staff alike – WHY NOT?!?!?! Kindness costs nothing, and I love nothing more than seeing others happy and smiling.”
This turkey feather activity is a great addition to WAHS and was a wonderful activity to brighten up teachers’ holiday spirits. Mrs. Cip deserves all of the praise for stepping out of routine and coming up with something to drum up community and fun in our school environment. Let this be an example to everyone in our school community of all of the good things you can do for those around you when you step out of the same old worn path and blaze a new one. There is only one quote that can truly capture such an amazing story and an amazing woman. “…Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” – “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.
