Yesterday I was having a conversation with a parent in the office and they had talked about the concept of ‘filling someone’s bucket’ when speaking about their child. The concept has three main ideas and I feel it’s important to share as this concept lives in us everyday here at Laurel.

First, the phase ‘Filling Your Bucket’ pertains to the idea that everyone carries around an invisible bucket. These buckets hold all of our good feelings and happy thoughts. Secondly, we can also share these thoughts and feelings of positivity and optimism with others to fill their buckets. Thirdly, one can also be a ‘bucket dipper’. This idea describes feelings like being rude or mean to one another that will remove the good feelings and thoughts from our buckets.

Recently, I went to an AISNE workshop for Heads of School. Working with colleagues was wonderful, but the best feeling was speaking to a close contact at AISNE, who has intimate knowledge of our school as they have licensed us and watched our growth. We spoke about Laurel, and the schools accomplishments, especially our recent growth that has been achieved as a community. This conversation absolutely filled my bucket!

I wanted to share this conversation with you and so many instances at school so that I may fill yours as well because these accomplishments do not solely fall on my shoulders. Our school has grown and continues to thrive because of the dedication of our faculty, administration, the support of our families, and the love of our students.

I see and hear about the students filling each other’s buckets daily through the kind interactions between them like one of our students warmly welcoming a new child into class; a student holding out a hand to someone who fell; walking in the hallway to witness a high five or a hug; watching a student comfort another when they were feeling down. These are all examples of our students filling each other’s buckets.

This concept of ‘Filling Your Bucket’ is alive and well at Laurel. It is ingrained in our community. It is what makes us unique and special. It is a concept that I feel can sometimes be lost in some environments but my hope is that we continue to grow with kindness, love and respect. These ideas create the core of Laurel and we are all responsible to continue to not only fill our own buckets but to make sure that we also spread that positivity to one another.

Check out the book: "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" By Carol McCloud

Sending all of you warm wishes!
Best,
Amy Carroll
Head of School