LAKE STEVENS — For kindergarteners at Highland Elementary School, Thanksgiving is all about turkey. And more turkey.
Hand-drawn pumpkins and scribbled cornucopias lined the walls of the Lake Stevens school Tuesday morning, bringing festive cheer as the school prepared for the long weekend ahead.
While kindergarteners won’t learn about Thanksgiving’s traditional history until the spring, The Daily Herald sat down with nine students to hear their historical takes and how they’re celebrating this year.
What does Thanksgiving mean to you?
Charlie, 5: “Thanksgiving really means, like, all the family time that you get to be with your family all day.”
Blake, 5: “It makes me feel happy.”
Highland Elementary kindergartener Blake Coleman, 5, shrugs when she is asked if she knows when the first Thanksgiving was on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Carter, 6: “It means lots of things.”
Zoya, 5: “I love Thanksgiving because I like the turkeys.”
Dylan, 5: “Joyful.”
Angie, 5: “Being sharing.”
Nova, 6: “Thanksgiving means to me like you’re being thankful.”
Luke, 5: “About to go somewhere fun and eating yummy food and being thankful.”
Lincoln, 5: “Same.”
Do you know the story of Thanksgiving?
Charlie, 5: “I don’t think so.”
Blake, 5: “I know some of them. I kinda forget because I haven’t read them in a long time.”
Carter, 6: “Yes. It’s about Thanksgiving.”
Dylan, 5: “Yes. Being joyful.”
Nova, 6: “No, I think it’s about a turkey.”
Angie, 5: “No. I think about a turkey, too.”
Highland Elementary kindergarteners Angie Furlan, 5, left, Nova Geary, 6, laugh as they talk about what a turkey would say if it could talk on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Luke, 5: “Like the pilgrims? I know a story about it, but not all of the stories. My dad read a book about the pilgrims.”
Lincoln, 5: “I think I heard it.”
When was the first Thanksgiving?
Charlie, 5: “A long time ago?”
Carter, 6: “I don’t know.”
Dylan, 5: “Last year.”
Nova, 6: “Like 10 years ago.”
Angie, 5: “10 years ago.”
Luke, 5: “10, 30 years ago.”
Lincoln, 5: “I think it was 10 years ago.”
How are you celebrating Thanksgiving?
Charlie, 5: “I don’t know.”
Blake, 5: “All my friends and family, they’re gonna come to my house then we’re gonna eat a fancy dinner.”
Carter, 6: “By eating the turkey. The giant turkey.”
Zoya, 5: “One afternoon, we actually planned a dinner. I think I told my mom to make a turkey?”
Dylan, 5: “Turkey.”
Highland Elementary kindergartener Dylan Volz, 5, is asked if he knows what a pilgrim is on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Nova, 6: “We’re eating Thanksgiving foods, we’re eating chicken.”
Luke, 5: “This year, we’re going to go to my mom’s grandma’s house and we’re gonna have Thanksgiving there.”
Lincoln, 5: “Same, going to my grandma and grandpa’s but they’re far away.”
What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Charlie, 5: “Turkey.”
Blake, 5: “Turkey.”
Carter, 6: “Turkey.”
Zoya, 5: “Turkey.”
Dylan, 5: “Turkey.”
Nova, 6: “Turkey.”
Angie, 5: “Turkey.”
Luke, 5: “Well, I’ve been asked that question before, and I don’t know because the only one I know is turkey and there might be better things. So I don’t know.”
Lincoln, 5: “A little bit of turkey. A little turkey. I don’t like turkey that much, just a little bit.”
What is the grossest Thanksgiving food?
Carter, 6: “Mashed potatoes.”
Zoya, 5: “I saw a Thanksgiving video, and there was some pumpkin there. Pumpkin seeds.”
Highland Elementary kindergartener Zoya Malla, 5, makes a face while she thinks about what the grossest Thanksgiving food is on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Luke, 5: “I don’t know what it’s called but I know what’s the yuckiest. It’s like a red soup.”
How much do you eat on Thanksgiving?
Charlie, 5: “A lot.”
Blake, 5: “A normal food.”
Carter, 6: “Just a chicken leg.”
Zoya, 5: “Medium.”
Dylan, 5: “A little.”
Nova, 6: “Like 4, 5 or 10.”
Angie, 5: “A lot.”
Luke, 5: “Probably like medium.”
Lincoln, 5: “Medium.”
Do you help cook?
Charlie, 5: “Yeah. I pretty much help cook everything that me and my mom make.”
Highland Elementary kindergartener Charlie Elder, 5, smiles as he she talks about what Thanksgiving means to her on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Blake, 5: “Mmhmm.”
Carter, 6: “No.”
Zoya, 5: “Well, my mom cooks great.”
Dylan, 5: “Yeah. Pizza.”
Nova, 6: “Yeah. I help cook the pumpkin pie.”
Luke, 5: “Sometimes. We help cook mac and cheese or anything that we eat for dinner. Not usually breakfast.”
Lincoln, 5: “Sometimes.”
What are you thankful for?
Charlie, 5: “I’m thankful for all the love of my friends.”
Blake, 5: “My family.”
Carter, 6: “Eating the turkey.”
Zoya, 5: “I’m grateful for my mom getting food from the grocery store.”
Nova, 6: “I’m thankful for eating Thanksgiving food.”
Angie, 5: “I’m thankful for our lives.”
Luke, 5: “All the people that live with me at my house.”
Lincoln, 5: “I’m thankful for my dog.”
What does it mean to be thankful?
Charlie, 5: “I forgot.”
Blake, 5: “I don’t know.”
Carter, 6: “Lots of things.”
Highland Elementary kindergartener Carter Bachand, 6, talks about how much turkey he eats at Thanksgiving on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Nova, 6: “Being kind and sharing.”
Zoya, 5: “You thank someone that’s doing something for you.”
If a turkey could speak, what would it say?
Charlie, 5: “I don’t know.”
Blake, 5: “What? It goes ‘gobble!’”
Carter, 6: “Ahhh please don’t eat me! Ahhh please don’t eat me!”
Zoya, 5: “It goes ‘gobble gobble gobble!’”
Dylan, 5: “Hi.”
Nova, 6: “I think ‘gobble gobble gobble.’”
Angie, 5: “I think it would say ‘Happy Thanksgiving!’”
Luke, 5: “Gobble gobble gobble, I want corn.”
Lincoln, 5: “Gobble gobble gobble, I want chicken!”
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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