Southport students host free community meal Nov. 24
Last year, over 100 guests visited Southport Town Hall to enjoy a meal prepared by local students. Robert Mitchell photo
Last year, over 100 guests visited Southport Town Hall to enjoy a meal prepared by local students. Robert Mitchell photo Thanksgiving season is upon us, and students at Southport Central School (SCS) are giving back to their neighbors through their second annual community meal. The free event is at Southport Town Hall on Nov. 24, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Admission is on a rolling basis.
This gathering grew out of the community garden SCS installed last year. Host toweekly lessons on different aspects of the growing cycle, the 240-square-foot, six-plot growing space also provides fresh food for students and the community to enjoy. As part of the education process, it seemed likea natural next step to bring students, and the fruits of their labor, into the kitchen.
“I'd say that the impetus for this was really trying to make real this process of, ‘How do we sustain ourselves? How do we sustain our community through delicious food?’ And making sure that the kids are part of the process every step of the way,” SCS Principal Shawn Gallagher explained.
In collaboration with chef Bonita Johnson of Southport General Store, SCS fifth- and sixth-graders prepared several dishes with garden ingredients in a real commercial kitchen. They chopped. Theypeeled.Theybrewed. And being given the trust to do so was empowering, said Gallagher. Last year’s participating students still cite the meal prep as a favorite school memory.
“Those moments are unmeasurable in the development of these young humans.”
But the meal wouldn’t be possible without the help of the other grades, who decorate the space and serve the food; the Parent-Teacher Organization, which sources legacy recipes to give the meal a unique Southport flavor; and Southport General Store, which provides its facilities. Attending community members are also essential.
During the event, students are encouraged to break bread with so-called “trusted strangers,” i.e., unfamiliar members of their community. In preparation, lessons on interpersonal skills, from sentence starters to storytelling, have been classroom staples. Gallagher explained that, with the social isolation that can result from screen-relevance, it's more important than ever for students to learn how to converse with new people, especially across generational lines.
“We here at the school don't live in a vacuum, and the community members don't live in a vacuum ... And the more opportunities that (students) are exposed to and are comfortable with in these ecosystems, where they can fluently and fluidly experience intergenerational conversation, I think these kids are just going to thrive.”
