Parker’s Thanksgiving Morning Ex used to be a traditional performance which the third graders would put on for the whole school each year. The majority of the Parker students listening to the performance each year thought it was a fun opportunity to listen to what third graders were thankful for. But others in the school believed that it was a waste of time and work. So why did this specific traditional MX stop?
The Thanksgiving Morning Ex performance first began in 1979 and was focused on educating the Parker community about the Thanksgiving holiday and its history. Over the years it became more of a chance for third graders to reflect on the things they were grateful for to the entire school on the Wednesday before the holiday. Once the Thanksgiving MX had been performed, the school would officially be on Thanksgiving break, and students would happily rush out of school, excited for the time off of school to spend time with family and friends.
“I remember how the Thanksgiving MX was this huge Parker tradition, and I loved watching it, especially when I was little. I didn’t know much about the history of the holiday then, but I’m happy that I’m aware now,” freshman Anaïs Morris said.
Many Upper School students who performed in the Thanksgiving MX said that it was where they made some of the best lower school memories and bonded with classmates during the process of creating the MX
“My favorite memory of Thanksgiving MX was doing the show with the other kids in my grade,” freshman Miriam Blasko said. “I enjoyed being on stage. It really helped me with stage fright, and I also liked how the teachers expressed the importance and ease of including people throughout the whole Morning Ex.”
“The Thanksgiving Morning Ex stopped becoming a tradition after we got an opinion from the American Indian Center, suggesting that we should move the study to spring to avoid perpetuating negative stereotypes,”Assistant Head of the Lower School and Dean of Student Life Ashley St. Peters, said. “The content of the recent Thanksgiving MXs was not considered really offensive, but we wanted to respond to feedback from the Center about changing the topic to something else that the third graders were learning in their curriculum.”
When the pandemic hit in 2020, the Thanksgiving Morning Ex didn’t occur that year. It was postponed to 2021 but didn’t end up occuring in 2021 either. The traditional Thanksgiving MX became a day off of school and a transition into the Thanksgiving break.
“COVID was another reason we put a pause on this Thanksgiving MX, so now we do spring time. Last year the students presented sports, architecture, and topics having to do with Chicago. It was relevant to the curriculum and the students were so excited to share what they had learned,” St. Peters said.
The old MX performed by the third graders in the fall became a spring Morning Ex where the third grade class would present on topics they had learned that year.
“The teachers would usually pick a topic that would vary year to year, sometimes letting the students vote on topics related to their studies,” Lower and Intermediate School Director of Studies Barbara Hunt said. “We really wanted to try and have it in the voice of the students as much as possible, and the third graders always put a lot of effort into the performances.”
“I remember for our performance last year, we separated into groups,” said fourth grader Ryan Levin. “There were six groups, but I can only remember four. Each group went on a field trip and then did a performance to Lower School students on sports, transportation, culture, and architecture. My group went to a sports museum in Water Tower, and after the field trip we performed a video and skit talking about tour guides and MC’s who would go around and explore Chicago. It was really fun performing what we learned. I really liked it,” Levin said.
Although the traditional Thanksgiving Morning Ex performed by the third grade class has been switched to a springtime performance showing different topics learned in the curriculum, it’s still seen as a joyful and hardworking performance that the students look forward to putting on every year for the school as well as their loved ones.
