Visiting Gift of Life Michigan: An Unexpected Stop on the Gratitude Train

     I thought today was simply about a photo op.  About dropping off a check.  I was so wrong.  And I am so glad that I was.  At the start of the 2014-15 school year, the STEM Academy coordinator at my school did what's she's done every year since she took on the role.  She encouraged her students to choose an organization to raise money for-- one with some connection to Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics.  But this year Danielle solicited ideas from the community, to bring in more ideas and more interested parties.  I emailed her, as did one of my colleagues, suggesting that they choose Gift of Life Michigan.  It made the list of fourteen potential groups that the students could choose from.  The leadership council, which included a few of the students who had been in my classroom on the last day I taught prior to going on medical leave, looked at the list and said, "We don't even need to vote.  We're doing this for Mr. Green."