Showing gratitude: Catholic school students reach out to elders, wider community

By Danielle Yuthas

Awareness, service and, of course, gratitude are the themes in classrooms throughout Colorado this week.  Schools individually select what they will do to get students involved in finding the true meaning of Thanksgiving, the national holiday to give thanks to God for his providence.

The holiday traditionally traces its origins to an autumn harvest feast shared by the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians in 1621. In 1863 President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. It is customarily observed by offering prayers of gratitude to God for his bounty and sharing a feast with family and friends.
At several Catholic schools, students are engaged in activities that provide them a way to show gratitude through community outreach.

Principal Sarah Amodio brought a new idea to St. John the Evangelist School in Loveland this year.  Students will be participating in a 100-person feast.  The 100 people will represent the population of the world.  Grades four through eight will be randomly assigned seating as they arrive.  Only 15 percent of students will sit down to a full, traditional Thanksgiving feast, 35 percent will sit in chairs and be offered beans and rice and the rest of the population will be sitting on the floor and only be offered a scoop of rice.  Students will have an opportunity to experientially realize how fortunate they are this Thanksgiving. 

Amodio said that food is being wasted in the cafeteria daily without students having an understanding of life in the rest of the world.

“The ‘feast’ is meant to bring social issues to the forefront right before Thanksgiving so students can see how truly blessed they are,”  she said.

One student from each of the designated social studies classes will give a biography of a typical life in that situation. The guest speaker will be associate pastor at St. John the Evangelist, Father Felicien Mbala.  The priest grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has traveled extensively. He will offer his first-hand accounts of poverty and hunger.  Eighth grade student and student council president Sarah Mast offered her support for the project.

“(I hope) the kids will get a real feel for what some people’s Thanksgiving is like,” Mast said.
St. Vincent de Paul School is collecting nonperishable goods for the needy.  Each grade is assigned different items to bring and once all items are collected, they are lined up for the students to see how great their contribution actually is as a whole. 

This food drive was started by Deacon Joe Young more than 25 years ago to aid those in need in the Fort Lupton area.  The students have been participating in the food drive for approximately 10 years.  The food drive is unique because the student council and parent volunteers travel to Fort Lupton, go into the homes and deliver the goods door to door.

Teacher aide Karen Doyle has been involved with the project each year. She said the food drive opens the students’ eyes to a different part of the world and inspires them not only to be generous at Thanksgiving and Christmas but year-round. 

“It is truly a gift to reach out to those in need and I couldn’t help but go again and again,” said parent volunteer of five years Patti Shepard.

Senior citizens will be honored by service projects at schools in Aurora and Englewood. St. Pius X School in Aurora is paying tribute to seniors by celebrating a Grandparents Day.  The festivities will include breakfast and prizes for the grandparents and special friends as each class performs a poem, skit or song, followed by Mass together. The grandparents will also have an opportunity to see the classrooms and meet the teachers.

“It’s the perfect time to share and celebrate their influence on the children’s lives, the day before Thanksgiving,” said principal Mark Strawbridge. “It’s our first Grandparents Day. It’s to celebrate and show thanks to the special people in our lives who may not always get recognition.”

St. Louis School in Englewood will hold its 27th annual Thanksgiving feast for seniors.  There are senior centers and recreation centers in the neighborhood surrounding the school and the students reach out to this community by serving a free Thanksgiving meal to any elder who wants to attend their feast. The students prepare for the meal by decorating cards and nut cups and bringing ingredients for the recipes.  The teachers prepare the meal.  At the feast the students serve their guests and also have a chance to talk with them. 

“Instead of preconceived ideas students have about senior citizens or senior citizens have about middle school students, it helps them realize what each generation brings to the table,” said Principal Patty Hagen.

Father Robert Reycraft, pastor of St. Louis, will offer anointing of the sick just before the meal.  Eighth grade student Lauren Kearney said she is looking forward to the Thanksgiving feast, recalling that at last year’s event, “I got to see the seniors smile.”