The Groton Open House taught me a lot:

It taught me what schools expect of you.

As for Groton, the main theme is kindness and leadership. Kindness, is easily interpreted and everyone has probably done kindness in their lives. Kindness is when you show your appreciation and respect of others, helping them when they are in need of assistance even when no one is there to praise you. Kindness happens in everyday life and examples are holding the door for someone, saying thank you to others, talk to someone who feels left out, and many more.

Leadership is when someone is in the position of being in charge of something and doing it in the greatest way possible. A leader shows kindness to their peers, and has a keen ear open for anyone who has ideas. A leader respects whoever’s working with them, even if they don’t really get along. A leader shows skills that others will listen to and helps with compassion, not ruling with fear.

This year, the Groton school has added a new theme: Neighborly Neighbors. The concept of neighbors means living close to each other. Neighbors may be friendly or may be hostile towards each other and that’s where the word neighborly comes in. Neighborly means being friendly, helping, and kindness, which are both positive traits. Similarly, being neighborly neighbors means helping each other, being kind and friendly, and even helping leading each other out of sadness. When at the Open House of Groton, everyone was friendly to me, saying hi and helping me out with the locations of different buildings. I am really thankful to them and their small actions made me feel included to the community even when I’m just a guest visiting.

From this Open House, I have realized some of the traits a great person should possess and I will be this person that will make everyone feel included. I promise.