We began the 2022-23 school year with a sense of hope! Hoping for a year of normalcy after the difficult years for our school community throughout COVID. As we began the year we quickly realized that there was a need for a common thread. Something that would help to anchor our decisions as a school community. Through our many formal and informal conversations we realized that there was a need for alignment. For Gilmore staff to support our students, families, and each other in the most authentic way possible, we needed to align our in class teaching with school wide structures such as our School Story, Family Teams, Professional Development and Shared Experiences for students and families. To accomplish this we needed to take a step back and begin with a staff activity run by our District Social Responsibility team to help us understand our shared Core Values. This activity was very beneficial in helping us understand what we value as a staff, which will be a part of our common thread moving forward.