Gratitude, love and thankfulness

By Ettie Zaklos, Preschool of the Arts Founder & Director

The last two months of the calendar year always seem to be the busiest! Throughout November and December, schedules are packed to the brim, Naples is buzzing with peak activity and there is a wonderful holiday spirit in the air.

At Preschool of the Arts, we look at the start of the holiday season as a chance to bring together our entire community for special events and celebrations. We know that the largest educational gains occur when teachers, students and parents work together toward the same goals. Creating a joyous community atmosphere for our students and their families allows community members to greet one another in social settings, fostering stronger and deeper relationships that benefit all.

Our holiday season’s programming started with a bang with our grand annual Thanksgiving performance in Cambier Park. Every year, the Thanksgiving celebration is one of our preschool’s largest celebrations as family and friends gather to watch their little ones perform a beautiful medley of songs and admire their artistic handiwork.

Our theme this year was “Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice” – and everything was quite nice, indeed! As always, the theme of the day focused on gratitude and being present for the multitude of blessings in our lives. Parents, grandparents and extended family enjoyed a fabulous children’s performance that did us all proud and allowed our entire community to share the holiday spirit of thankfulness and camaraderie. A special video presentation highlighting the “spice” and spirit of learning at POTA was enjoyed by all.

Throughout the month, our curriculum focused on gratitude and appreciation, specifically the themes of “We Can Make a Difference” and “Caring Community.” Many of our classes read the book, “Circles,” by Brad Montague, together as a class. This book emphasizes creating caring communities, beginning with the love within your heart, and expanding the circles around you to welcome and care for all.

After reading the book together, students discussed different ways they can care for each other and those in our community and brainstormed ways to show kindness and caring in school and at home. Our teachers introduced our new Giving Project for the month (a theme that will be woven in throughout the year), where children prepared homemade treats for the dogs and cats who reside in shelters in our community. The special treats were then delivered to the Humane Society of Naples and to Purradise Gardens.

At Preschool of the Arts, gratitude is not simply a value we give lip service to, but an integral part of our program, deeply ingrained into our school culture. While we teach gratitude every day at our preschool, the Thanksgiving holiday really brings the message to the fore. It is the perfect opportunity to stop and remind ourselves how blessed we are and express our heartfelt gratitude to our community, our dedicated and loving staff, our caring and involved parents and, of course, the children who bring us such joy, teaching us more about love and thankfulness than we can ever teach them.

In a note of gratitude, I am proud to share that POTA has won the Best of Naples 2022 awards in the preschool, childcare and after-school summer camp categories! We are so humbled and grateful to our community for voting for us and for the beautiful acknowledgment and trust they have placed in us all these years.

We look forward to celebrating our community at Chabad and POTA’s annual Chanukah Festival on Dec. 19. We have a fantastic “Chanukah in the Circus” extravaganza planned, with performers, rides, activities, holiday treats, and so much more! Our POTA children’s performance is always a highlight of the event, which gets bigger and better each season! While the excitement of “the greatest party on Earth” will surely draw a crowd, we are positive that our students will be the stars of the show, shining their inner light forth, brighter than the candles of the Chanukah menorah!