As a Special Education Teacher serving students with significant disabilities, I found Dr. Hills work illuminating. He shows that gratitude is a way of seeing the world that cultivates humility, empathy, and the sacred act of giving back. His approach honors all human experienceboth challenges and triumphsas opportunities for growth and brilliance.
Developing Conscious Gratitude in Schools invites educators to recognize that gratitude is not about avoiding hardship, but about transforming it into purpose, resilience, and connection. Dr. Hills work is a guiding light for all who believe teaching is more than instructionit is a sacred practice of awareness, compassion, and grace. -- Sovey Long-Latteri, 2022 California Teacher of the Year. Lecturer, California State University, Long Beach. Special Education Teacher, Saddleback Valley Unified School District This book is a timely and inspiring invitation to awaken what might best be described as Conscious Gratitudea culturally centered practice rooted in moral awareness and emotional intelligence. Jerrell Hill beautifully begins with conscience, that inner voice guiding us toward right and wrong, and expands into a mindful gratitude that transforms appreciation into purposeful thought and action. Through its pages, readers are encouraged to recognize those who have illuminated their paths and to translate that recognition into humility, service, and joy. This work reminds us that gratitude, when practiced consciously, becomes a moral compassone that deepens our understanding of interconnectedness and strengthens our commitment to give back with intention. You will be emotionally and pedagogically moved by this book! -- Tyrone C. Howard, Ph.D. Director, UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children & Families; Director, UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools, University of California, Los Angeles
