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Hilltop students celebrate Thanksgiving
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Hilltop Elementary School morning kindergarten students celebrated Thanksgiving by making and decorating traditional headdresses and vests out of paper grocery bags. The students, led by kindergarten teacher Lisa Zetts, paraded through the lobby of the school Nov. 20.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Nanette Midgley, a second-grade teacher who retired in 2010 after 23 years at Hilltop Elementary School, spent the day celebrating Thanksgiving in the school’s library playing her guitar, singing songs and reading books to the students in each grade Nov. 20.
By ABBY SLANKER
Students at Hilltop Elementary School had a little bit extra to be thankful for this year. Nanette Midgley, a retired Hilltop teacher, visited the school to perform a Thanksgiving program for the students Nov. 20.
Midgley, a second-grade teacher who retired in 2010 after 23 years at Hilltop, spent the day in the school’s library playing her guitar, singing songs and reading books to the students in each grade.
“It is so wonderful, and we are so thankful, to have teachers who come back to visit our school even after they retire,” said Cathy Mowry, Hilltop Elementary School principal.
Midgley read the students one of her favorite character’s books “Arthur’s Thanksgiving” by Marc Brown. Midgley then performed “Mama’s Soup Surprise,” which was sung by Bruce Springsteen in the early 90s. The song was a crowd favorite during which the students happily sang along to the upbeat music. Midgley asked the children what they were most thankful for, and then told them she was most thankful for her family and friends. She sang “We Are The Family” by Ray Repp, with the students also singing along.
“Ray Repp believed he had a large family all over the world. He believed all people everywhere are family,” Midgley told the students.
Next in the performance was “The Mitten Song,” a counting song by Mary Lu Walker. Midgley asked the children to follow along closely and practice their division skills to figure out how many pairs of mittens there would be at the end of the song.
With a little time left before the children had to go to lunch, Midgley asked second-grade teacher Gretchen Fernstrom to accompany her on “If I Had a Hammer.” Fernstrom accompanied Midgley with a hammer, a bell and a song, much to the delight of her students. Midgley concluded her visit with the students with “The Golden String,” also by Mary Lu Walker.
“I am very thankful to be here today,” Midgley told the students as they enthusiastically applauded and thanked her at the end of the performance.