Pour the contents of 175 cans of soups of various flavors into 15 slow cookers and heat through. At the end of four hours, you have a meal fit for a roomful of 4-year-olds.
Oh, don’t forget the secret ingredient — friendship.
The slightly unusual offering was the annual Thanksgiving meal — renamed Friendsgiving — served at Lawton Public Schools’ New Horizons Learning Center for 4-year-olds. Each student was asked to bring a can of soup; flavors didn’t matter. The soups were divided into chicken-based and beef-based and each child added his or her can of soup to a slow cooker. Some students donned chef’s hats or aprons as they did the honor of contributing their donation to the communal pot.
Four hours later New Horizons faculty and staff had transformed the cafeteria into a Thanksgiving feast to rival anything the best chefs in the world could create. On the menu for lunch was a bowl of soup, pumpkin pie, a cookie or two, some chips and juice to wash it all down with.
Victori Swinford, New Horizons teacher, said the feast is an opportunity to enjoy a meal as a family. Normally, students eat lunch in their classrooms. The one exception is the Friendsgiving meal.
“We teach them about Thanksgiving and they all bring different soups so they can do something together,” Swinford said. The friendship lesson sinks in, she said, once they all start adding their soups to a slow cooker.
Fellow teacher Hannah White said it is important for all of the students to eat together.
“Some don’t have a normal Thanksgiving,” she said. “They like to bring something. They were excited to bring me a can of soup this morning. They really like dumping the soups in. They all get to eat together. They are excited. They think it is a party.”
George Matlock seemed to be enjoying the meal.
“I like it ‘cause it’s delicious,” he said.
And why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?
“You eat food,” he said.
Andraea Siebert also seemed to enjoy the meal.
“I like the noodles,” she said as she scooped up a spoonful of chicken noodle soup.
Harmony Collins liked more than just the soup.
“Soup, pumpkin pie and bread,” she indicated were her favorite items on her plate. She liked the soup “because it’s tasty,” she said.
As to the meaning of Thanksgiving, “We have turkey and food,” she said.
New Horizons Principal Trevan Wyatt, who said this is the second year for Friendsgiving, said it is important to get all of the students together.
“It’s nice to enjoy time together because we are all friends,” she said. “We never know what their Thanksgiving is going to be like, so we make it special for them here.”
In the end, the secret ingredient of friendship is what makes the meal special for everyone.