LAURINBURG — I. Ellis Johnson students gathered Thursday for a pre-holiday Thanksgiving lunch and to celebrate the holiday with festive headbands.

“We are having our community Thanksgiving meal and we’re really excited to bring in parents and community members,” said Principal Mary Hemphill. “We’re just really excited because the holiday times are here and it’s really just a great time for fellowship.”

The students were served turkey, green beans, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and other festive holiday foods for the Thanksgiving meal. All of the kindergarten students made Native American, pilgrim or turkey headbands in class to demonstrate their Thanksgiving spirit, which they wore during the meal.

“The Indians and the pilgrims are here,” announced kindergarten teacher Chaka Davis-Smith.

The students made the colorful headbands during class to honor the holiday.

“We were celebrating Thanksgiving and Native American history, so we read stories about them and had some art activities to celebrate Thanksgiving,” Davis-Smith said.

The Thanksgiving celebration was held in conjunction with Native American History Month, which is commemorated in November. Throughout the month, students have learned about Native Americans in their social studies classes.

“The students learned about Native American History Month with vocabulary words that we worked on like tee-pee and regalia, so we’ve been studying that all month,” said Davis-Smith. “We will also be watching a movie, maybe Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, to teach them about history.”

The classes also incorporated art into the Thanksgiving holiday to further embrace Native American History Month. During the headdress and headband decorating, students put a creative touch on their hats.

“They were learning Indian symbols and they wanted to make a headdress with the Indian symbols and a pilgrim hat so we combined them,” said kindergarten teacher Melody Ebert.

Kindergarten students made festive hats, headbands and headdresses themed around the Thanksgiving holiday.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_IMG_0820.jpgKindergarten students made festive hats, headbands and headdresses themed around the Thanksgiving holiday. Abby Hackmann | The Laurinburg Exchange

Kindergarten students at I. Ellis Johnson celebrated Thanksgiving a week early on Thursday during a themed lunch.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_IMG_0833.jpgKindergarten students at I. Ellis Johnson celebrated Thanksgiving a week early on Thursday during a themed lunch. Abby Hackmann | The Laurinburg Exchange

During the Thanksgiving lunch at I. Ellis Johnson, students feasted on turkey, green beans, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and more.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_IMG_0824.jpgDuring the Thanksgiving lunch at I. Ellis Johnson, students feasted on turkey, green beans, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and more. Abby Hackmann | The Laurinburg Exchange

Kindergarten students celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday a week early at I. Ellis Johnson.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_IMG_0827.jpgKindergarten students celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday a week early at I. Ellis Johnson. Abby Hackmann | The Laurinburg Exchange

By Abby Hackmann

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Abby Hackmann can be reached at 910-506-3171.