PARIS — “In 1620 Christopher Columbus didn’t discover America. The pilgrims did,” said 7-year-old Brady Scelzo enthusiastically as he recently helped prepare a Thanksgiving feast in his Paris Elementary School classroom.

The feast in Heather Hatch’s class was part of the students’ study of the pilgrims and immigration.

“Our district curriculum is based around the word immigration, what it means, and how and why the pilgrims emigrated to the New World,” explained Hatch. “We discuss the differences and similarities between our traditions and theirs as well as learning about the daily lives of the pilgrim children and the Wampanoag that lived near the ‘plantation’ in Plymouth.”

The study is highlighted by the feast.

Hatch, who is a direct descendant of pilgrim John Alden, said she brought the Thanksgiving Day feast tradition to the former Fox School, whose students moved into Paris Elementary School four years ago, from the Harrison Elementary School where she previously taught. The tradition that she has kept going for the last 12 years was started by her colleagues, who also taught multi-age, many years ago, she said.

Hatch said it is important to teach children about history, including the story of the pilgrims.

“It’s a passion of mine,” she said as she set a pan of freshly baked cornbread on the table.

Hatch said she teaches the children about “the real Thanksgiving,” the three-day celebration of the pilgrims’ survival during their first year when more than 50 of the 102 passengers that set sail in December of 1620 on the 66-day voyage from England to America died by the end of their first winter in Plymouth.

Hatch said the feast is similar to what was served in 1621 when the Wampagnoag and the 53 surviving colonists sat down at the table together for a harvest celebration.

For the students, the preparation of the feast, which included cornbread, gingerbread, turkey, beans, carrots and more, was the most fun. The children spend two days working together preparing the food for the feast. Each has an assignment such as peeling and cutting onions, carrots, potatoes, and de-boning a turkey, snapping green beans and writing invitations.

“Can my mom borrow the recipe?” Scelzo asked.

Hatch says she tells the students every job is important so that the feast can occur. The food preparation becomes a lesson far beyond history as children measure ingredients using their mathematical skills, learn about the nutritional values of food, write invitations, build replica houses and even learn about health issues the pilgrims may have encountered.

Scelzo said he believes the hardest part for the pilgrims was being at sea. “They were really sea sick,” he said of the pilgrims’ journey on the Mayflower.

Casey Grover, 8, said he would like to be Samuel Eaton, a pilgrim boy, because “he had to work hard” digging for mussels and clams.

Others like Olivia Gallon said she would like to be pilgrim Sarah Morton “because she’s a girl and she likes being in the garden and I like being in the garden.”

“I think that science is often an easier subject to teach to young children because it is so hands on. History, in general, is minds on and is often viewed by kids as being boring and not important,” Hatch said. “Doing things like our pilgrims/immigration unit is great because it’s a way to get kids hooked on history. History is the past but it is also an important part of our present and future.”

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