Vibha Gopalakrishnan, a junior at GHS, felt compelled to send messages of love, brightness and positivity to local medical professionals risking their lives to help others. In mid-April, she launched The Gratitude Project, a creative way for Guilderland students, teachers and staff, and the community, to express their gratitude. The premise was simple: anyone who wanted to participate could write a message, share a word, record a thank you video or create an illustration to be sent to local medical professionals.
“The Gratitude Project is really just a creative way to bring cheer and show our appreciation to these warriors with messages, word clouds, statistics, and illustrations/videos,” said Gopalakrishnan.
In response, the community contributed over 650 responses—nearly 60% from students—for medical professionals, frontline workers, teachers and school staff. Trending words from the project include “dedication,” “compassion” and “selflessness”.
After countless hours of collection and editing, Vibha released this video in early June. This, along with messages that couldn’t be included in the video, were shared with St. Peter’s Health Partners and Albany Medical Center. Some messages were shared with teachers and staff at Guilderland Central School District.
“All of the messages were so heart-warming, and it was beautiful to see our school district come together and share compassion, love, and gratitude,” said Gopalakrishnan. “My personal favorite was the collage of illustrations. All the drawings were simply stunning!”
It’s Our Turn [GCSD Community] to Show Our Gratitude Video
Medical Community Messages
School Community Messages
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