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Kindergartners act out first Thanksgiving
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .The kindergartners of Barb Ealy's St. Charles classroom smiled after their successful Nov. 18 performance of "The Story of the First Thanksgiving."
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .At the first Thanksgiving feast, Governor William Bradford (center, standing), or actor Mason Reichard, led his brethren in a prayer thanking everyone who helped bring the harvest feast to the table.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .During their Nov. 18 Thanksgiving play performance, kindergarten actors Joey Groner (left) and Samantha Duble became Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Josepha Hale, respectively. During the play, Hale asked President Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.
By SARAH FOOR
To have her kindergartners learn about Thanksgiving, St. Charles teacher Barb Ealy found that there is no better way than to have her students live their own special version of it.
On Nov. 18, family and friends of Ealy’s kindergartners gathered in school’s gym to watch “The Story of the First Thanksgiving.”
The brief, but informative, play explored how Thanksgiving became a national holiday, beginning with Sarah Josepha Hale pleading to president Abraham Lincoln to make the celebration official.
An explanation of the first Thanksgiving followed, as Pilgrims befriended Wompanoag Indians and worked together to prepare the first harvest feast. “You see, Mr. Lincoln, it is truly an American holiday,” said kindergarten actress Samantha Duble, in character as Sarah Hale.
Lincoln made the event a national holiday in 1863.
The kindergartners prepared props and memorized lines in only two weeks for their Thanksgiving play. “The play definitely helps the students learn about Thanksgiving in a way they’ll remember because they get to live it as characters. The kids really enjoyed themselves and I know they’re proud that their parents and family were able to see something they put a lot of work into,” Ealy shared.