Thanksgiving Holiday Pairs Well with Monthly Moral Focus Virtue for NHA Schools

The Thanksgiving holiday provided an excellent opportunity for National Heritage Academies (NHA) schools to celebrate in many ways. The name alone pairs well with the Moral Focus virtue of Gratitude for November, and many schools took advantage of that opportunity. Below are some of the highlights from the week leading up to Thanksgiving.

Crafts for Kids and Parents

Multiple schools celebrated the season by scheduling family nights where parents and kids worked on crafts together.

Bennett Venture Academy families with younger children created colorful paper turkeys, writing things they were thankful for on the feathers, while older children created pumpkins from ribbons of paper. Families wrote the things they were most thankful for on each piece of paper that made up the pumpkins.

Andrew J. Brown Academy hosted a “Friendsgiving Craft Night” for their students, families, and friends.

Float in a Parade

Some schools decided to get creative with other traditional Thanksgiving activities like parades.

Drawing inspiration from Melissa Sweet’s book “Balloons over Broadway,” Eagle Crest Charter Academy Third-Grade Teachers Madi King and Megan Nyland guided their classes in making balloon creations to parade through the school. The scholars were impressed by all the cheers they received from their schoolmates.

Kindergarteners at Hamtramck Academy in Michigan created their balloons and marched through the halls for all to see.

Other schools, like Paramount Charter Academy, participated in local parades in their community, and adopted themes like dressing up as cast members from the movie “Elf.”

Something to Eat On

Each year students at Ridge Park Charter Academy create placemats for Mel Trotter Ministries, a local mission that serves a large Thanksgiving meal each year. This year, scholars created 1,600 placemats, all with their own artistic flair. Many focused on the Moral Focus virtue of gratitude, inspirational sayings, images of turkeys and pilgrims, and other holiday related imagery. 

Exercise

South Canton Scholars got out in nature to hike and get some exercise for their Turkey Trot. Although inclement weather cut the course down from two miles to one, scholars were able to briskly walk (or trot) outside.

Food Drives

South Pointe Scholars Charter Academy offered to hold a dress-down day if students brought in a non-perishable food item or donated one dollar. It worked. The school collected a large amount of canned goods and boxed foods before the holiday, as well as a total of $239.75 that was used to purchase turkeys for families in need. 

Taylor Exemplar Academy’s Student and Family Liaison Lashante Teate Merritt and Social Worker Naseera Azad organized the school’s food drive, which provided Thanksgiving baskets, turkeys, and fresh bread to many families at the school. 

Winterville Charter Academy also held a food drive, but as a contest. Dedra Jackson’s kindergarten class won the competition by bringing in 226 items, while Michelle Sasser’s kindergarten class came in second place with 195 items. Mia Mewborn’s kindergarten class came in third place with 118 items. The contest was organized by Senior Admissions Representative Elizabeth Nunez, who said many WCA families, members of a local church, and some senior citizens were recipients of the food donations. She also thanked the Winterville Parent Action Committee for the help with sorting all the food.

Great job creating lasting experiences and helping those in need everyone!