With a holiday break happening this week, all students with the Paton-Churdan School District continued a tradition with all of the staff.

The 6th Annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner gathers all kindergarten through 12th grade students and staff together for a sit down Thanksgiving Day meal over lunch that was held on Monday. Principal Annie Smith said this event allows students to practice their manners, have good conversations and for some with busy home lives the ability to have a sit down dinner that they might not get at home sometimes.

Counselor Libby Towers created a twin sister “Miss Manners” to especially help the younger kids in kindergarten through fifth grade about what appropriate manners to use at the dinner table because you only get one chance to make a first impression.

“Having an understanding of how we present ourselves and how we are eating at the table, you just never know how it’s going to play into it. And so when you talk about families, just like Mrs. (Annie) Smith said, they’re busy (and) not a lot of kids really spend a lot of time around the dinner table, so taking the time to really make sure kids understand (that). It is really fun because it’s year number six and I think Miss Manners has been coming around for probably close that long, and the kids look forward to seeing it but they also are really good about relying back kind of what those expectations are.”   

Smith appreciated the kitchen staff that made the entire event as festive as it was, with a full spread of food and two kinds of desserts with apple and pumpkin pie.

“We just happen to be lucky enough to have kitchen staff that is amazing. They really spoil us all throughout the year, (but) this is one of the things that they really take (seriously), they spend the weekend preparing (all of the food and the gym), they come in on their own time. I mean they just go all out to ensure that these kiddos and our staff have such a wonderful event.”

Smith adds that each table in the gym had a mix of elementary, middle and high school students with a staff member to continue their culture of their “Big and Little Buddies” as part of the mentoring activities, while also keeping siblings and families together as well.