What brings you joy?

Our school just completed a survey.  The survey was unique but also very informative.

A little over two weeks ago a group of teachers created a hands-on, interactive, board in our front lobby.  The board has a bear and a penguin surrounding a question.  The words ask, "What brings you joy?"  The letters in JOY were large, and a small bucket with markers was left in front of the board.

Over the course of the holiday season, kids and staff have written their responses to that simple question, "What brings you joy?"

I didn't quite know what to expect.  What would be the overwhelming response from 400 youth and  their teachers?

I figured we would have some toys listed or maybe some food.  We do.  I thought we would have family and friends listed.  We do.  More than anything I thought it would be possible we would have expensive items listed.  We don't.  Each time I walk past the responses, I see something new, but I have yet to see anything that costs an exorbitant amount of money.  In fact, most of the responses are are about experiences and relationships with other people.

With great help from our secretary, this is a list of some of the unique items written on our board.

family, travel, pets, people, pigs & blowfish, winter break, fishing, old family photos, mom & dad, video games, toys, cats, dogs, cats, dogs & foxes, unicorns, football, moon, friends, God, taekwondo, penguins, playworks, books, my teacher, beyblades, ice, reading, play dates, animals, soccer, volleyball, my baby, my class, coffee, sports, smiles, helping others, basketball, cousins, being a good leader, summer, coding, snow days, my faith, ice cream, hockey, turtles, hot chocolate, food, chocolate, plane spotting, Minecraft, ice skating, life, Wizarding World, math, Novi Woods, Nintendo, India, playing, my son, recess, San Diego, sharing, sunny days, my kids, free time, gym, laughter

"Family" was, of course, the overwhelming response from students, staff, and any visitors to our survey.

For several years now leaders in our district have been engaged in work collecting and listening to student voices.  We've partnered with our intermediate school district and representatives from The University of Michigan to collect data from alumni and students at all levels, K-12.  Over 9000 student responses were analyzed by many of those same high school students.  Recently all district administrators were privileged to participate in a discussion with those students about what they discovered in the data.  

While I can't do the entire project full justice here, the themes I heard over and over again were that students wanted positive relationships and engaging environments at school.  The students told us that they wanted their voices to matter, and that their perspectives could make a great difference in the learning and social-emotional climate of the entire district.

As we close one calendar year and begin another, I am encouraged by listening to each other.  I am encouraged that we have created a learning community where all voices can make a difference, and I am grateful that we take time to get to know and respect each other.  I am also reminded that we need to intentionally teach our young people to do this more, and the best way to do that is to model it in our schools and our families.

Here's to a great, new year!

Now, where did I put that unicorn?