Giving Thanks at SAPMAT
We all know that Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States. But what is it all about, and what does it mean to us here at SAPMAT and to our American CEO, Stephen Steinhaus?
Thanksgiving centres on gratitude—appreciating the harvest, family, friends, and blessings in life. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Its origins trace back to the early 17th century when English Pilgrims and Native Americans shared a harvest feast in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The annual giving of thanks became an informal tradition in different regions at different times. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to foster unity. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill establishing the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving. More recently, it has become a 2-day holiday for most of the U.S. Some schools even have the whole week off!
However, at its best, Thanksgiving is a beacon of light and hope, bringing people of all backgrounds and faiths together in gratitude and appreciation for each other and all the ways in which we are fortunate. Thanksgiving is not only a time to celebrate abundance but also a moment for reflection, community, and goodwill; like our harvest festival.
American in the house
I asked Stephen what Thanksgiving meant to him growing up in America, and what it means to him now after a quarter of a century living in the UK.
Born in Oak Park Illinois, the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway and once home to the celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Stephen reflects on Thanksgivings past, present and future.
Like most Americans I know, Stephen remembers sharing a meal with family (traditionally a roast turkey), sports, parties, parades - and for his family - always a visit to the cinema on Black Friday in Chicago. When he was 24, the first professional gig he ever played was on “Thanksgiving Wednesday” with his band, The Rejected, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
For him the holiday is about sharing a meal, sharing cultures and sharing traditions. But he said something else that I have never associated with this holiday before, that it’s an equalizer!
He says: “It reminds us of how we are the same and what we all have to be grateful for, not what divides us, what we resent and what makes us different.”
Thankful for SAPMAT
Here at SAPMAT, gratitude and equality are so important, so it’s good to take a moment and think about our many blessings and all that we have to be thankful for.
Stephen says: “It’s important for SAPMAT because I think this is the greatest job in the world. I am very thankful for it and for the team that does this job. Thankful for the opportunity and the people that work with us. Thankful when young people arrive with us, that we get the opportunity to help them.”
Crucially, Stephen is aware that there are still areas in the where there isn’t an “us”, like SAPMAT, and poignantly says that it scares him.
The classic view of education can sometimes be that it’s a thankless task. With the students we work with, it sometimes feels like sending messages out into space. You have no way of knowing if those messages are being received or appreciated.
What we try to do here at SAPMAT (and we don’t always get it right), is to be thankful and show gratitude to and for our team. This is essential because the work that our team does well, not everybody could or would do - and its life-changing work.
Sometimes those outside our trust might not thank us, our young people might not know how to show gratitude, so, it’s important that I as CEO am able to formally thank our teams, but also that we are able to be grateful for each other.
Thankful for an exciting year ahead
This year we have seen Coventry Academy join our Trust family, and just two weeks ago we opened the first primary AP in Solihull, Apollo. In 2025, we truly have a year to celebrate here at SAPMAT, and we will have a celebration for both Thanksgiving and on the 4th of July. The free school that became our founding academy (Solihull Academy) was approved in 2015. It also marks twenty-five years since Stephen came to live in the UK, just in case we needed anther reason to celebrate.
Stephen concludes with this message:
“SAPMAT is a good thing, it’s something that should be valued and treasured and I am hugely thankful and grateful for it and everyone who works as part of our team, supports us and partners with us. I am grateful for our opportunity to work with so many young people, day in day out to try and build a future to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.”
P.S, there is a reason Stephen didn’t get any further than GCSE level in art!