As we count down the remaining days and weeks of the school year, this is a meaningful season to reflect and celebrate.

Over the next few weeks, many college students are graduating, choosing to become teachers, social workers, nurses, and other vital positions in our schools. What an exciting time!

While we may feel exhausted, hanging onto the little energy and passion we have protected, we also have hope and belief within us.

What are you thankful for about your students today?

After the bell rings and the students head home, I invite you to take a deep breath and remember that, no matter what, you are enough.

“When you pick up a child, you change their perspective. All of a sudden, they can see the world the way you see it.” ~ Walter Bond

“We want to create hope for the person … we must give hope, always hope.” ~Mother Teresa

We made it to Friday! Perhaps this weekend is inviting us to create space for inspiration.

When our students see examples of authentic hope in the midst of challenging circumstances, it may result in a hopeful cycle too powerful to imagine.

Focusing on the theme of hope, we share books which have inspired hope, healing, and discovery in our lives.

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” ~Toni Morrison

“We read to know we’re not alone.” ~ William Nicholson

“I hope I never give up on the reality that every person has the capacity to change.”

~ Desmond Tutu

“You are not a burden for having burdens that you are learning to lay down. You are not a failure for not reaching the heights you thought you’d reach by now.” ~ Morgan Harper Nichols

It takes a special skill to be observant: to scan around your learning space and not just look, but see.

In what areas of your life are you hoping for healing today?

“They were pleasant spring days, in which the winter of man’s discontent was thawing as well as the earth, and the life that had lain torpid began to stretch itself.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

“Waiting with hope is very difficult, but true patience is expressed when we must even wait for hope. I will have reached the point of greatest strength once I have learned to wait for hope.”

- George Matheson

What are you looking for today? Thorns in the field of roses or wildflowers in the weeds? The choice is yours.

Waiting is the hardest work of hope.