GODFREY - Students at Evangelical School recently enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal together.
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Along with the parent group EPIC, students helped prepare a Thanksgiving feast to share last week. Students made side dishes in the days leading up to the meal, and then all 350 students ate together in the gym on Nov. 20, 2024.
“It embodies a sense of community,” said Jamie Milligan, who chairs the event with EPIC. “We’re a small community here. It's important to develop those relationships across the age timeline. I think it’s important for the older kids and the younger kids to interact.”
Middle school students were paired with kindergarteners and pre-schoolers to help the younger kids decorate placemats and collect their meals. Many students wore hand-made turkey hats and enjoyed sampling the food they prepared.
Principal Amanda Macias noted that the tradition is a fun way to bring the school community together. She said the Student Council also held a food drive to collect food for Evangelical families who might need assistance during the holiday season. Teachers talked with students about the history of Thanksgiving and the importance of being thankful.
“We do things throughout the week and talk to kids about what it means to be thankful and the things that we’re thankful for, and then we just get to celebrate,” Macias explained. “I love Thanksgiving.”
Milligan said the Thanksgiving feast tradition has been part of Evangelical since the 1980s. She believes that knowing how to cook is “a really important life skill,” and she hopes the students learned more about cooking as they helped to prepare the side dishes.
Milligan and Macias added that they enjoy seeing all of the students in one space interacting with each other. The feast represents the positive culture they work to foster at Evangelical.
“Just being able to come together and give thanks to the Lord for all the things that He’s given us and just being together is something to be thankful for, so we absolutely love this tradition,” Macias said. “If anybody’s ever looking for a school or a place to come where it is so family-oriented and we all do truly care about each other and love each other, you’re going to find that here at Evangelical.”
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