FARMINGTON — On a warm and sunny Dec. 18, long lines of W.G. Mallett School students walked up the streets of Farmington, delivering food donations to the local food pantry housed at the Farmington Community Center.

The food pantry directory Kristen Wroble on the left and Kindergarten teacher Gracie Foss, with W.G. Mallett School students delivering food donations Dec. 18 in Farmington. Rebecca Richard/Franklin Journal

The walk marked the culmination of a schoolwide food drive, with students and staff coming together to support the community during the holiday season.

Food pantry director Kristen Wroble and kindergarten teacher Gracie Foss helped students as they delivered the donations. Kindergarten teacher Emily Bouchard and prekindergarten teacher Hannah Goodenow walked with students as they carried bags of food items.

The following day, Dec. 19, W.G. Mallett School hosted its holiday end-of-year event, showcasing a skit performed by the first-grade class to kick off the celebration.

First grade teacher Alison Hatch shared insights about the creation and rehearsal process for the skit, inspired by their recent author study of Jan Brett.

“We’ve been doing an author’s study on Jan Brett,” she explained. “We’ve read and enjoyed all sorts of Jan Brett stories and have looked for characteristics of Jan Brett stories, noticed the similarities and differences, etc. We’ve also used what we’ve learned from Jan Brett in our own stories.”

The performance was based on “The Mitten,” a folktale retold by Brett. “We discovered that The Mitten is retold by Jan Brett and is actually a Ukrainian folktale,” Hatch said. “We got really excited about this because we have a student in our class from Ukraine. The script and performance are something I have done in the past, but I thought it was perfect for this class.”

Preparation for the skit began just before Thanksgiving, with students learning songs and rehearsing intermittently. “Rehearsals have been tricky due to school closure, gym use and student absences,” Hatch noted. Despite these challenges, the students’ excitement and determination shone through.

Students from W.G. Mallett School form a long line as they walk to deliver food donations to the Farmington food pantry on Dec. 18 in Farmington. Rebecca Richard/Franklin Journal

“The students are so excited about doing this and feel proud we’re performing,” Hatch added. “Some students have an individual singing role which really takes a lot of courage.”

Students shared their favorite moments from the skit, including wearing costumes, using the microphone, and bursting out of the mitten. Memorable highlights also included the “snowflake dance” and the climactic sneeze that brought the mitten scene to life.

The school’s holiday event capped off a season of community engagement and creative learning.