It is finally the big day! All the weeks of planning and prep are ready to be enjoyed. Our tradition of the Oak Street Thanksgiving Feast is very special to us as a staff. We have always acknowledged that some of our students may not have ever had a traditional feast with turkey and all the fixings. We want them to have this chance and to create a memory for a lifetime. We think of everyone here as family, so it makes complete sense to sit together and enjoy a delightful meal.
We take this special opportunity to allow our students to see many of the preparations needed to pull off a feast this size. This involves many great chances to learn about cooking, table settings, manners, and how to create a truly special event. This is fun for educators to think "outside of the box" on how they can teach math skills while cooking, social skills, sharing, art and thankfulness for all that we have. First grade mixed the pumpkin bread, second grade made pies, third grade mixed stuffing and fourth grade learned how to peel potatoes. Every class works on art projects for their table decorations and "costumes". There are many things that also occur on the side: pumpkin bread delivery to the neighbors, second grade helping wrap silverware, 4th grade servers for our special guests, and the early morning crew that comes in to cook and then slice the turkey.
At Oak we work hard on the thankfulness portion of this feast. We invite many guests that include PTO volunteers, parents that have become lifelong school friends, district leaders, as well as many of our 265 support staff. We want to thank others for all that they do to make Oak Street the special place it is. Everyone has a role and should be appreciated.
Giant thanks go to our amazing kitchen staff Carol, Cindy and Marge. We couldn't do any of this without their generosity and willingness to help. We love you ladies! Mr. Lind and Mrs. Miller are huge in this feast development. We appreciate all you do. Thanks again to our staff, students and many volunteers that do this for the kids. Enjoy the video that Mrs. Chambers put together. It captures just a handful of some of the special things that happened around the building this week in preparation for today!