By Sujin Kim ’18, Marketing and Communications Student Intern
Thanksgiving Happening is an iconic event at Moorestown Friends School. Each year, on the day before Thanksgiving break, all students from Kindergarten through 12th grade, and faculty and staff come together to make paper flowers, paper bag turkeys, colorful paper wreaths, and festive Thanksgiving banners to decorate the Lutheran Home on Main Street and other local nursing homes and continuing care facilities.
The day begins with the entire faculty, staff, and student body splitting up into small groups. The groups separate into classrooms and spend about 90 minutes making crafts. Then, once that time is up, the hallways transform into rivers of bright color as each group walks through the halls carrying their flowers and other crafts into the gyms to display during assembly. The groups split into the Field House, Practice, or Red Gym, and settle in on the floor for the equally iconic Thanksgiving Happening assembly.
In all three gyms, the amount of food collected (and dinners assembled) in the annual food drive is announced, along with the amount of money donated. All food and money is donated to New Visions Center in Camden. After announcements, stories about kindness and generosity (the values surrounding Thanksgiving) are told by teachers, and music teachers lead songs about the same themes. Last year, the school learned a song called “Siyahamba,” a traditional African medley featuring the merits of peace and equality. Students look forward to Thanksgiving Happening as a time to give back to the community, and make a difference in the world around them. After the Happening, everyone leaves school for break feeling a sense of empowerment, knowing that they can make a difference in the world around them.