Murdy Elementary School Honors Heroes with “The Gratitude Project”

Monday, June 5, 2017
Murdy Elementary

Sixth grade students from Murdy Elementary School concluded a yearlong study about the power of gratitude with a special celebration last week that honored a group of heroes who have overcome life’s greatest challenges.

The celebration is a culminating event of “The Gratitude Project,” during which students share what they learned about gratitude from interviews with 97-year-old Tuskegee Airman and U.S. veteran Lt. Col. Robert J. Friend, Interpreter with the U.S. Special Forces Luc Lien Nguyen, U.S. Army Ranger and Vietnam Veteran 2nd Lt. Dan Barlow, Signal Corp South Vietnam Veteran 2nd Lt. Khang Manh Tu, Artist Hai Pham, U.S. Navy Seal and Vietnam Veteran Andy McTigue, and family elders.

“The Gratitude Project is a one-of-a-kind living history lesson that has a profound, life-changing impact on students in a way that no textbook could,” said Lan Nguyen, Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education President.

“The Gratitude Project” was launched three years ago by sixth grade teachers Valerie Del Carlo and Mark Keller. After interviewing family elders and six in-class participants, students respond through art and writing. Many students uncover details of their family legacy for the first time and gain a deeper understanding of freedom, hardship, bravery, and love of country.

Click here to watch a video about “The Gratitude Project 2017.”