A Lower School Thanksgiving Tradition

At the end of our short yet wonderful school day today, several parents asked me to describe the Thanksgiving Assembly. As I gushed about how angelic the students voices sounded as they sang together, how proud we were of 2nd and 4th graders who explained the Can Food Drive and the Penny Harvest to their schoolmates, how moved we were by fourth graders Sal Agnello who opened and closed our assembly with his ceremonial American Indian flute-playing, and the tradition of sharing freshly baked breads with those in need and with each other – it became quite clear that I needed to at least send a few snapshots out to all of you. I can’t decide if the highlight of the morning was the children’s beautiful voices or the special guest we had (long-time progressive educator and LREI 3rd grade teacher for 34 years, Grace Cohen) sharing from LREI lore.

It seems that many years ago, the children were singing the same closing song, “Indian Prayer,” and a young man walked by who had composed the music. He heard the children singing through the open windows and knocked on the door (the Bleecker St door, for there was no other). He told the then-music teacher that he had composed the song to lament the broken promise of this nation to the American Indians that certain parcels of land “shall always be Indian.” It is a beautiful and moving melody, and to hear the children sing it brought moisture to more than one teacher’s eye, myself included.

We also spent a quiet moment altogether remembering those people in our lives we are thankful for, who make our lives good. As we all get to spend Thanksgiving with many of those folks, we wish our whole community a restful time full of new and old traditions.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Namita