Gratitude on 9/11

Here is a story  about gratitude taught by a teacher in Tampa. On 9/11, Andrew he was just 20 years old and away at college, learned his dad , an EMT and first responder, died when the Twin Towers collapsed. At first, the family thought he’d show up.

As a result, he is now teaching his students about gratitude. Students learn to be grateful for public servants. They learn to respect others’ opinions.

On the anniversary of a terrorist event, he has the opp
ortunity to discuss an Us. vs. Them. attitude. He could talk to his students about how hateful some people are. This teacher could even inject stereotyping and profiling of people.  Instead, he has taken a very tragic and horrific event, and turned it into a lesson that should be taught everywhere.

One student asks why the planes crashed into the towers.

“They felt, by doing that, they’d scare us, cause us to change the way we live our life every day. It had the opposite affect. It made us stronger. It made people come out to help that would not help before. It brought us together as a nation,” Andrew explains to his students.

Be Well.
Paul.
The Gratitude Guru

1 Comments

  1. Melissa Smith on September 11, 2010 at 8:50 am

    Good for Andrew that he can look at this tragedy with such a positive outlook knowing he lost his dad. Good for him, he is a perfect example of finding gratitude among chaos and destruction.

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