Lessons in gratitude and generosity

Young Kindergarten welcomed a series of guests for lunch yesterday.

 

The week before, they had invited several adults to join them for a Thanksgiving celebration.

 

The planning process had been full of reflections on neighborhood and gratitude.

 

That spirit carried over into yesterday's preparations.

 

The turkey went into the oven before Spanish class.

 

They prepared the corn when they got back from music.

 

The potatoes were mashed after math.

 

(A fair degree of counting, measuring and literacy was worked in along the way, as well)

 

Six adults had been formally invited.

 

Many more stopped in to visit.

 

Each was warmly received with food and music.

 

Mealtime conversational gambits included the following:

 

Did you know turkey makes you sleepy?

 

Did you know french fries are made of potatoes?

 

Did you know that Curious George's real name is Fifi?

 

Did you know that some people call moose "rubber-nosed swamp donkeys"?

 

As at any Thanksgiving, some children drifted off to play.

 

Others stayed seated, chatting, for a full hour.

 

And every guest was carefully thanked before they left.

 

Meanwhile, eighth graders were special guests at Pleasantview Elementary School.

 

They were delivering the food they'd collected through the fourth annual Turkey Trot.

 

The Turkey Trot is a schoolwide food drive, run by the eighth grade, that also includes an informal race around the school in which the entire Middle School participates.

 

At the end of the day, the G-Notes rehearsal had a special guest lesson from Trinity Rep actor - and Gordon parent - Mauro Hantman.

 

Hantman plays Jacob Marley in Trinity's production of A Christmas Carol, and the Gordon's Middle School a cappella group will be performing in the show on November 30th. more on this connection

 

They knew the music, but they needed Hantman to brief them on the blocking, and the context for their appearance.

 

In addition to caroling at the end of the show, the Gordon students will also serve as a church choir at Marley's memorial service.

 

It's a holiday story, Hantman reminded them, but it's also a ghost story.

 

Thanks to Hantman for taking time on his day off for this special visit, and thanks to the Providence Journal's Kris Craig for documenting it.

 

more photos from Young Kindergarten's Thanksgiving are online
 

 

More guests...

 

The Thanksgiving holiday brings alumni visitors to campus, too. Thanks to Jake Walker '11 above, and Maia Wolf-Livingston '16, Tamar Wolfson '16 and Rafi Wolfson '11 below for stopping by this week, as well as Brooke Mongeon '10 and longtime fourth grade teacher Pat Jennings, both of whom eluded the camera .

Next week, a new season of special guests begins, with a series of events that are free and open to the public.