Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
PARENTS AND students sit down to eat a Thanksgiving lunch at Washington Elementary School in Bessemer on Tuesday. The school allowed for parents to join in the meal, which featured turkey with all the fixings, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.
BESSEMER - Hundreds of elementary students and their parents celebrated Thanksgiving a little early Tuesday with a Thanksgiving feast at Washington Elementary School in Bessemer.
It was the first time the school held the feast.
First grade teacher Emily Stafford had held similar meals at her old school in North Carolina.
According to Stafford, the meals were held there for three years, and when she came to Washington Elementary, she decided to do it here, as well.
"It was pretty popular there," Stafford said. "We decided to do this because Tim Franz is our new cook, and this is some of the best cafeteria food I've had. I wanted to help showcase that, and have a way for the parents and kids to come together."
Students in grades kindergarten through six dined with the parents.
For parent Tina Hipenbecker, it was double duty on Tuesday, eating lunch with her son, Mitchell, in kindergarten and son, Patrick, in sixth grade.
"Mitchell is really excited about Thanksgiving, and this is his first year in school," Hipenbecker said. "He was really excited about the meal, but his brother doesn't think it's that cool. We've been having fun, though. It's a pretty neat event."
Throughout the morning, students also had parents in their classrooms, discussing what they are thankful for.
In Stafford's class,students had a writing project and drew pictures of what they were thankful for. The work was displayed digitally for parents to see.
Some classes also performed Thanksgiving plays and other activities with family members.
When it came time to eat, families were treated to turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, peaches, vegetables and pumpkin pie. Volunteers from the A.D. Johnston High School Key Club helped serve meals and clean up.
Stafford said she hopes the event will continue in the future.
"I would love to do it again," she said. "The school and parents were really excited about it, and it's a great way to bring everyone together before the holiday."
For more information, call Washington Elementary at 906-663-4515.
