DON’T FEED THE TURKEYS
Not all Northern Michigan
turkeys are running for their lives this Thanksgiving. A few are sitting
very still, proudly on display in the entryway at Onekama Elementary
School.
For the twelfth consecutive
year, the fourth grade class of Onekama School is participating in the
Great Turkey Competition. Students are given the task of designing and
building a model of a turkey. Imagination and originality are the keys
to these turkey creations, and the finished products become the talk of
the school each Thanksgiving.
Onekama fourth grader Amanda
Babcock enjoyed the experience of participating in the Great Turkey
Competition. She commented, “It was very fun making a turkey. My mom and
I worked together on my gem turkey. We are going to use it as our
centerpiece for our Thanksgiving dinner.”
Onekama teachers Tracy Bennett
and Bonnie Brown, who organize the Great Turkey Competition each year,
never fail to be impressed by the ingenuity that goes into these
student-driven creations. Explained Bennett, “The turkey contest is a
fun at-home project in which students are asked to make creativity come
alive. It gives students the chance to work with a family member and
have fun while doing it. This is our twelfth year doing this project,
and it never ceases to amaze myself and Mrs. Brown at the variety of
ideas that families create. Each turkey is unique in its own way.”
Students from Kindergarten
through twelfth grade participate in voting for their favorite turkey,
and the winners are announced on the last day of school before
Thanksgiving break. Added Bennett, “It's a great feeling to see our
former turkey participants looking over the display and reminiscing
about the turkey that they once made.”
Those who enter Onekama
Elementary School in the days to come should be prepared to be greeted
by a gaggle of original turkeys, and by a colorful and inspired display
of students’ imagination-in-action.
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