MITCHELL — Cammie Wilson asked her kindergarten class to think of something for which they were thankful. The young students mentioned fathers, mothers, grandparents, aunts, and brothers and sisters. Of course, they also mentioned the food.
For as many years as they can remember, kindergarten teachers at Mitchell Elementary School have taken a part of Thanksgiving week to teach their young charges a bit about our history and the pilgrims that traveled here to establish a new county.
“We made Indian and pilgrim hats for the kids to wear,” Wilson said. “Then they brought canned vegetables and potatoes and onions and we made a stew.”
On Monday afternoon, the kindergartners tried out the stew they helped make. They also helped make cornbread that morning.
One of the more challenging tasks was churning cream. After filling a jar with whipping cream, students took turns shaking it. It took 11 minutes to turn into butter, which became part of their Thanksgiving meal.
With Wilson’s guidance, the class learned about the pilgrims’ journey and some of the foods they would find in the New World. The kids even made an illustrated book about what they learned.
“We’ve been doing this for at least the last 11 years I’ve been here,” Wilson said. “It’s a fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving and feast together. I hope they’ll remember about working together, being with other people and sharing a special time.”
As kindergartners were arranging placemats and getting their hats on, fellow kindergarten teacher Leslie Hughes was in the kitchen preparing diced potatoes.
“This is my first year teaching kindergarten, so I hope I don’t botch the feast,” Hughes said. “I like having the kids take part of the meal preparation because they might not be able to do that at home. It was interesting to see them learn all kinds of new things about how Thanksgiving has changed over the years.”
Hughes said she always talks about her class as family, and hopes the kids will feel like a family and will feel loved.
“We all have a lot to be thankful for,” she said. “We talked about having thankful hearts for all the things we have.”