Ben Franklin students give thanks, share meal
Rebecca Devereaux|Herald-Standard
Benjamin Franklin School sixth-graders fill their plates with home-cooked foods and snacks they brought in for a Thanksgiving feast in Lisa Filippone’s classroom.
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School sixth-grader Noah Bardin, grabs a slice of pumpkin pie for a meal with his classmates. Every student in Lisa Filippone's classroom brought in dish of their choice to contibute to the Thanksgiving Feast held Tuesday in the classroom.
Sixth-grader Cameron Giachetti socializes with a classmate during a Thanksgiving feast in Lisa Filippone's classroom Tuesday at Benjamin Franklin School.
Sixth-grader Tamera Dorsey enjoys a Thanksgiving meal with her classmates.
Benjamin Franklin sixth-grader Taylor Cooley fills her plate during a Thanksgiving feast in Lisa Filippone's classroom Tuesday.
The turkey was on the table in one Uniontown Area classroom this week before schools dismissed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
On one day each November, sixth-grade students at Benjamin Franklin School in Uniontown get to share their holiday traditions in the classroom while reflecting on reasons to give thanks.
Sixth-grade teacher Lisa Filippone holds an annual Thanksgiving feast for the students, a tradition she started more than a decade ago.
“I love Thanksgiving and the traditions that have been passed down through my generations of family,” said Filippone, adding she is also interested in the ways her students celebrate the national holiday.
“Years ago I thought, why not bring those traditions together and have a feast with our school family.”
It began when she taught at Lafayette School in Uniontown. At the time, she and other staff members provided the food.
Years later while teaching at Menallen Elementary School, she decided to get parents involved, inviting them to accompany her kindergarten class for a Thanksgiving meal in the school cafeteria.
When she arrived at Ben Franklin, she began hosting the annual feast in her classroom. Wanting to continue parent involvement despite the limited space, she asked parents to contribute dishes to the spread.
“The past four or five years I’ve done it here and it’s just grown throughout with parent participation, the kids, the staff members. But I always wanted kids to have something in class and know that we are a school family,” she said.
Food and drink filled five festively decorated tables in Filippone’s classroom Tuesday.
On them were more than two dozen dishes, many of which were provided by the students’ families.
The school cafeteria provided a few of the essentials: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cake, milk.
Attended by 47 students, the morning meal took the place of the students’ regular lunch.
Any leftover food from the meal is donated to nonprofit halfway house Genesis House Ministry of Uniontown.
“I appreciate all the families who take time in participation, and I’m humbled by the care and love they put into the day,” Filippone said. “Sometimes it’s nice to take a step back from the normal school day and celebrate holidays with each others’ company.”
Filippone said the feast is a time for camaraderie in the classroom and an opportunity for the students to share a special meal together.
“I think it’s a really good thing that we’re having a Thanksgiving feast in our classroom,” said sixth-grader Grace Kahn, who brought homemade pumpkin pie for the occasion, “because it gives people who don’t have Thanksgiving at home a chance to have food if they don’t have that experience at home.”
Sixth-grader Chris Duncan said his favorite part of Thanksgiving is spending time with family.
“It’s really the time you get to spend with the people that you love because you can just sit around the table and eat and talk about the important things in life,” he said.
“It makes me happy because you really don’t ever get to have Thanksgiving in your classroom. It was really generous of my teacher to have it in our actual classroom so we could do it as a class.”
But before the class can eat, Filippone, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, asks each student to take a turn stating what they are thankful for.
“Family.”
“Friends.”
“Food.”
“I’m thankful for a lot,” said student Courtney Braddee. “I’m thankful for my family, my friends, the food we just ate — everyone put lots of work into it just to do that in the classroom.”
Students expressed thankfulness for their pets, others for their electronic devices. School, teachers and the classroom received mentions as well.
“I’m thankful for this,” Filippone said before telling everyone to dig in.