Lower Elementary students harvesting parsnips last Thursday for today’s Frugal Lunch.
As each of us prepares to create a special Thanksgiving with our families this Thursday, our students have also been working for several days to prepare a celebration for each other: a special, simple meal of homemade oat and date rolls and a vegetable soup planned, prepared by the students themselves. With the story below I hope to relay the special qualities of our Frugal Lunch.
Today, all 250 of us, students and staff, sat side by side, in gratitude for so much. A poem read by our Upper Elementary led our reflection, our thanks for each other’s work, for the work of those on farms and in stores, for the work of the sun, the rain, the bees, and for those incredible plants that store within themselves such rich flavors and essential energy that nurtures us. The Middle School students served the food and several students of different ages shared words to let us think about our good fortune and consider how each of us might help those who have less.
Last week, the older children of all levels began to plan: who would chop vegetables, cook soup, create the tables, determine the quantities and shop, clean, read the poem, host the event, decorate, bake, usher, serve, coordinate the food drive and present the work that students do at a local food bank. There has been so much to do, and so many eager to help. As I send this out, the work is now almost complete. Perhaps you have heard your children mention some of this work. They may or may not talk about it, but the meaning of their work will be felt and tasted today! Here are some delectable details...
First thing Monday morning, small groups of six to nine year olds were brimming with joy as they prepared their batch of delicious rolls around our large kitchen table. Hands sticky with dough, successive groups continued baking all day as the smell of fresh bread filled the halls. Next door, more groups of younger elementary students rolled out vast swaths of brown paper, making table runners decorated with maple & oak leaf silhouettes, choosing colors and compositions to make the tables beautiful.
Last week, some of these older elementary students had gone to Ballard Market, where Jim (I think it’s Jim), the dairy manager, had 60 milk crates set aside for us. The students puzzled them into the van and then unloaded them again at school -- these will be table legs for our shared meal. Our adolescents retrieved the 4’ x 10’ sheets of plywood that will be our table tops from the storage container and consulted with the ten- and eleven-year-olds on how to set up the tables this year. Other groups of Middle Schoolers welcomed all children to the meal and served everyone while one of our oldest played the piano.
At the end of school yesterday, a five-year-old girl pointed proudly to a bowl of carefully cut carrots, kale, potatoes and celery, and declared, “These are the carrots I cut!” Then she added, looking at the hundreds of rolls recently baked and stacked in bins on the counter, “The rolls look good. I like how round they are.” Her pride and appreciation, something I’ve seen in so many in the last couple of days, reveal the sentiments that often accompany the work of our Montessori children. In this case, the scale has increased: when their work is carried out on behalf of the whole school, clearly an impossible task for any individual or small group, then the children experience the feeling of being active creators of our large community.
Through coordinated small efforts, we have enjoyed connecting to each other of farm fresh, hot food. And when we sat side by side, sharing the meal today with pride and appreciation, I know that we will all feel a very special kind of togetherness, joy and comfort that traditions like this nurture.
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday of thanks, togetherness and traditions old and new,
Dorrie