Thanksgiving for School Kids: Celebrating Cultural Differences

The e-mail went out from a kindergarten teacher last week to parents. "Please come to our Hooray for Thanksgiving play!"

Very soon an e-mail came back from a parent. The message was, in so many words, "Can we talk?"

The parent, with humor and perspective, wanted to be assured that any accounting of the traditional tale of pilgrims and Native Americans would be sensitive to the fact that many of the students did not come over on the Mayflower. In fact, the diverse student population contained some students whose families have recently immigrated to the U.S. and to whom Thanksgiving is a new celebration.

According to Judy Levy, communications officer at the SOMA school district, the issue of how to celebrate Thanksgiving is handled at the classroom level, where teachers can gauge their students' background and experience with Thanksgiving. 

"We have not made a change in the way we teach children about Thanksgiving," said Levy. "There are different approaches at each school, but it is always about teaching and learning and the celebration of cultural differences."

Levy's comments were proven in Ms. Piersons and Ms. DiGiorigio's second grade class at Seth Boyden, where the children read a story about the first Thanksgiving and then had a feast of traditional Thanksgiving foods such as corn and squash.

The story focused on what each group brought to the table—literally. Social studies was at the forefront, as the story acknowledged the difficulty of surviving a harsh, cold winter at a time when food was more perishable.

Then the children sang, "Over the river and through the woods." Family and food: these things are universal.