I have been teaching elementary students since 2003. Since my very first year, with the exception of two years during the Pandemic, we have had an annual Thanksgiving Feast in my classroom.
The Impact of a Thanksgiving Feast at School
I put myself through the stress of a school Thanksgiving Feast for one reason – the kids.
Every year, it seems that we have 1 or 2 kids that has never really experienced a Thanksgiving dinner on the scale that we have in the classroom.
We go all out. The kids help with decorations. We talk about placemats, tablecloths, and setting the table. Our dessert area is usually 2 tables long, loaded down with a punch bowl, cheesecake squares, a variety of cookies and pies, chocolate eclairs, etc…
Our main dinner consists of turkey (cooked in a roaster on my teacher desk), mashed potatoes & gravy, mac & cheese, ham, rolls, green bean casserole, corn, and stuffing.
For the past 4-5 years, we have also had a salad table with individual containers of chopped up veggies, and pretty much anything else you can think of to put on top of a salad. It’s actually one of my favorite aspects now of the Feast.
The magnitude of the dinner, along with their involvement in almost every aspect of the preparation, creates a lasting memory that will be with them for many years after they leave our elementary building.
Prior to the Feast
Our Feast this year will be on Friday, November 17th. This week I will have an anticipatory set of sorts by placing mixing bowls, utensils, tinfoil, boxes of stuffing, and all other sorts of items, on a long counter top in my classroom. The students will be coming in to do their school work and will start to wonder and ask questions about the various items that will be accumulating in the room.
Calendar time with my students this week and next will undoubtedly include a mention of how many days until the Feast.
We will talk about invitations this week and what information needs to be included on the invite. Our school Superintendent is always invited (he usually comes), along with all of the students general education teachers. Kids will be handing them out personally after they practice what to say in my room.
Next week, “Feast Week,” will be important as we make sure we have all of our details finalized. Each child will know what group they will be in for cooking different food items. They will all have various jobs for decorating, place mats, tablecloths, etc…
On the Thursday before the big day, we will do food preparation for all of the veggies that will be on the salad table. Students will be continuously washing their hands and they will be sampling pieces of cucumber, celery, cauliflower, etc… as I chop away.
As always, safety is the main priority and I am the only one allowed to touch any type of cutting utensils.
The Day of the Feast
On the day of the Feast, Brian comes to work with me to help out. I start the turkey in the roaster around 5:30/6:00 A.M. and then we cart it to school around 7:00. At this point, usually everything else is at school just waiting to be put together in crock pots.
We arrive at school to my classroom that has been rearranged the day before. At this point, I have already pushed desks to the edge of the room and placed two cafeteria tables down the middle.
I will group different crock pots and utensils with mixing bowls, measuring cups, and food packages (i.e. 6 boxes of stuffing with the maroon crockpot, large box of instant potatoes with the white crockpot, etc…)
After that, I just keep checking and rechecking my list as I wait for the children to arrive.
As soon as the school day begins, we start.
I gather up all of my students from their various classes and we begin. Different groups measure out water, milk, and butter, depending on what they are making. Students are assigned to cleaning the tables, spreading out the tablecloths, and decorating. Children that are not busy with a job, will be coloring paper turkey and cornucopias to tape on the classroom windows.
My room becomes a beehive of activity, with visitors occasionally popping their heads in to comment on how amazing our classroom smells.
About 15 minutes before the dinner begins, we are busy with the final preparations. This is always the time that I stress the most. The turkey is being carved, the ham is being sliced, and the kids are antsy and ready to eat.
Time to Eat
As soon as the first group arrives to eat, time just flies. The kids linger over their plates, and make multiple trips to the dessert table. We have an occasional cup of punch spilled, but messes are quickly cleaned up. One group leaves, and another takes their place.
I usually spend the majority of this time refilling dishes, taking care of discarded plates, and welcoming guests. After around 2 hours or so, usually 1:30, we begin to clean up. (A heaping plate of food is always prepared for our night custodian and placed in the lounge fridge, because well, it’s what we do.)
A couple of students tend to stay with me after the meal is over and will help return the cafeteria tables and retrieve the vacuum. I generally have enough help between my husband and paraprofessionals that work with our students, to help me clean up in record time.
It’s fun while it lasts, but always nice to return everything back to normal.
The Following Week & Beyond…
The weeks following our Feast are filled with stories about the students’ experiences. They write endless sentences about their favorite desserts, favorite job they were assigned to complete, and overall favorite aspect of the day. The impact that the event has for each child is unique, but definitely meaningful.
The Feast is not always fun to plan. It’s expensive, stressful, and comes at a time when we are working on preparations for our own family get-together. However, how can we not do it? The connections, life lessons, and memories created are too plentiful not to.
Goals for Today:
- Go Christmas Shopping with Dad
- Organize my Closet
- Take a Nap