What we’re grateful for: You
11/26/2013
This Thanksgiving, as our nation gathers at tables big and small to give thanks, we wanted to take a moment to share what we are most grateful for - that's you.
Civic engagement is one of those boring terms that people in our industry (business) like to use. But here in Jacksonville, what it means is that over the last year, thousands of you have spent countless hours dedicating your energy to making our city a better place to raise young people.
Superintendent Vitti has been known to talk about the remarkable commitment of citizens in Jacksonville to public education. We agree, and we thought we would memorialize a few of the remarkable things that YOU did over the last year.
More than 2,300 of you ratified the ONE by ONE Community Agreement, which was created by about 170 of your chosen community delegates in an eight hour convention, using the results of in-depth small conversations YOU held all over the city.
Then, you went to the school board and supported their inclusion in the district's strategic plan, representing unprecedented alignment between citizens and their schools.
You spent countless hours volunteering, whether to bring 7,000 people to the PEP Rally for Excellence or to plan issue forums on school budgets and Common Core State Standards. You visited schools to debunk myths, gave money to empower innovative teachers and contacted your lawmakers to urge them to do what's right for Florida's kids.
Are you breathless yet? Because we are.
And yet we know there is more to do. We have no doubt that you will continue to keep pushing for better. To keep expecting great things from students and teachers. To keep believing in the power of public schools.
We cannot help but believe that with your support, the possibilities for our children are limitless. For that, we cannot thank you enough.
-- Deirdre Conner
P.S. What are you thankful for? Share in the comments.