GIVING THANKS for health, family, food and freedom . . . .
GIVING THANKS FOR CARING KIDS AND ISLAND HARVEST
(November 21, 2014) Allison Puglia and Jeremy Waite from the Island Harvest organization brought Thanksgiving a little early to the Phillips Avenue Elementary School in Flanders, NY. The Island Harvest flagship van brought 530 lbs. of food collected by the elementary students at Commack Indian Hollow Primary School to stock the shelves of the soon-to-be-established food pantry that will be housed in a former storage area adjacent to the stage in the Phillips Avenue Cafetorium. “This is a trial run – a first in Island Harvest’s history, “ explained Mr. Waite. “We provide food for approximately 316,000 people island-wide, but this is the first pantry in a school that we’ve helped stock.” Superintendent of Schools Nancy Carney stopped by to thank Island Harvest for their generosity and help in setting up this on-site food pantry. “We're still in the process of determining how the pantry will operate,” explained Phillips Avenue Principal Debra Rodgers, who has worked untiringly to meet the needs of her students, their families and the community that surrounds the school. . . SECOND GRADERS AT THE RILEY AVENUE SCHOOL PRESENT ANNUAL THANKSGIVING PROGRAM
SECOND graders in Catherine Kent's and Lauren MacDonald's second grade classrooms shared with their parent's some of what they have been learning about the origin of that first Thanksgiving shared by the Pilgrims and Native Americans. See the NewsReview's coverage of this event: Riley Elementary School second grade teachers Catherine Kent and Lauren McDonald combined their classes dressed as Native Americans and Pilgrims, in costumes the children made, for a Thanksgiving Show Thursday afternoon. It was a history lesson on the origin of the first Thanksgiving and children recited what they are thankful for. They sang, “The earth is our mother, we must take care of her.” Organizer Gary Karlson sends out special thanks to teachers David Spinella, Kathleen Horn, Chuck Kitz, Kelly Dillon, and Roy Buccola for helping raise $5,000 for Special Olympics by participating in the POLAR PLUNGE. >More / See photo right ------------> |
. . . The pantry is just another step in trying to meet the very real nutritional needs of our students and others in our school community. Having it on-site will make it easier for us to serve those needs,” concluded Ms. Rodgers.
Jean-Marie Mazzaferro’s class provided the muscle to move the boxes of food into the lobby of the school and she will oversee the survey to determine policies on how to best distribute the food. This is a great prelude to the school’s Fourth Annual Thanksgiving Breakfast hosted by the teachers, staff, administration and Phillips Avenue PTO on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in the school’s cafetorium. "This annual breakfast is just one event," shared Ms. Rodgers, "that helps reinforce the importance of community in the educational process, and is also the school's way of thanking the Phillips Avenue community for their involvement. An on-site food pantry will be another way we can share the bounty of what we’ve all been given." Thank you Island Harvest and Commack Indian Hollow Primary School for paying it forward!” FIRST GRADERS AT THE ROANOKE AVENUE SCHOOL SHARE AN ANNUAL THANKSGIVING FEAST TOGETHER
FIRST graders learn about community and family traditions in their social studies curriculum. Holidays and how families traditionally celebrate them in the United States is on part of that curriculum. Roanoke families shared their traditional Thanksgiving foods with the first graders by hosting a gigantic Thanksgiving meal for them. See the NewsReview's coverage of this event: Roanoke Avenue Elementary School first grade teachers Jenny Jaeger, Jen Hughes, Cathy Fasanelli and Kelly Schultheis hosted a Thanksgiving Feast for about 100 students on the second floor of the building Friday. The families of the school children provided the meal for them, which reflected the cultural diversity of the school. They feasted on turkey, potatoes, mac and cheese, tacos, flautas, tamales, pierogis and Italian meatballs. Also See: RiverheadLocal's coverage of the Thanksgiving Feast. POLAR PLUNGERS RAISE $5,000 FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS
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