When thinking of Thanksgiving, usually people think of the turkey and being with their family. Sadly not all families get a chance to have memorable Thanksgivings like that.

    Watertown Middle School helps every year to try and change that.

    Each homeroom brings in food to help out, some students will even bring in turkeys. Whatever food that is gathered is put into nice Thanksgiving baskets and are given to people in the area. This is a great tradition at the Watertown Middle School because it teaches students to give back to others and helps people a lot.

    “When we bring the baskets to them and see how happy they are is my favorite part of the whole thing,’’ said sixth-grade teacher Eleanor Donato. “It’s also great to see that people donate money and gift cards, too.”

    Mrs. Donato, Ms. Willoughby, and Ms. Morris are all apart of making the baskets and donating.

    According to Mrs. Donato, the baskets started about 15 years ago. At the time Mr. Bradbury, who is retired now, was helping out in her homeroom. One day they thought of an idea to get their homeroom to bring in food, make a Thanksgiving basket, and give it to a family. The other teachers thought this was a great idea. Not long after that, all the homerooms started gathering food to bring in and give to newcomers to the country or people who were ill.

    Being able to introduce newcomers to the country about the Thanksgiving tradition is what Mrs. Donato thinks as the most important part. She’s also glad to be apart of helping families in need.

    Students can bring in non-perishable items beginning on Nov. 16 and perishable items on Nov. 23. The baskets will be delivered Nov. 23-24.

–Nov. 16, 2015–