The blustery day kept Quest Elementary School students inside for their annual Quest Feast, but that didn’t stop students and staff from having a fun and educational day. Every year, sixth graders demonstrate what life was like in the 1600s for Pilgrims and Native Americans, but also how Thanksgiving is celebrated around the world. Since Quest is an International Baccalaureate district, David Moore, intermediate teacher who organizes the event, decided to expand the event last year to include Thanksgiving traditions from other countries.
Though it took place much later in American history, Tom Chugg and his grandson, Colton Spriggs, shared information about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and their experiences participating in a canoe and camping reenactment. Their display included what explorers would have brought with them, how they would have dressed and a replica of the tent used on their trip. “It was fun reenacting the expedition, but I definitely would not have wanted to live back then. Life was very hard,” said Chugg.
Other displays included corn husk doll making, butter making and other Thanksgiving foods, a replica of the Mayflower, John Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci displays, traditional games, face painting Native American symbols and much more. Students developed their topic question, “Who were the Pilgrims and what did they want?” for example, and then central idea, “The Pilgrims were a group of English settlers who wanted land, religion and money” for example, to guide their research.
“The whole school comes together and we learn about how it was when the Native Americans and Pilgrims lived here,” said Naomi Rosario, intermediate student, about why she enjoys Quest Feast.
Other classrooms and parents headed to the gym to participate in the games, listen to presentations and sample foods, then everyone enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving feast, some of which was prepared by the students. Many thanks go to the parent volunteers for making the meal possible.
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