Is it too early to start day-dreaming about Thanksgiving dinner? Not for students at Hampden Meadows School.

The fourth- and fifth-graders shifted their focus from reading, writing and math to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, as part of a school-wide donation effort. 

“We’re asking all of the classrooms to bring in donations to make two bags for families, larger family bags,” said Hampden Meadows School teacher Alison Whittaker. “We usually do this — they collect it a little before Thanksgiving, it takes a couple of weeks, and everybody contributes, and then we take all the extras and make more bags with that.”

In addition, the families of HMS students pitch in to help purchase turkeys for families in need, said HMS teacher Kelly Holmes.

“The students are also asked to bring in $1 to $5 donations to contribute to turkey vouchers,” she said. “So that along with the Thanksgiving dinner dry goods… Tap-In purchases gift cards so families can purchase a turkey to go along with it.”

Last week, students delivered more than 60 bags of food to the Tap-In food pantry at the Peck Center building. Each bag contained everything needed to make a Thanksgiving dinner: Stuffing, vegetables, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and more. 

The students toted the bags from the school foyer to the sidewalk, where the parents of two students helped load them into the waiting SUV and mini-van for a trip to the Tap-In headquarters. 

“We bring it over to there and the families go there and pick it up,” Whittaker said. “We’ve been doing this for, we think, 13 years. It started back with Mrs. Carroll and Mrs. Roy. It’s pretty simple. It was kind of like the idea that everybody brings in one item and then we have this massive contribution.”

Before heading over to Tap-In, students shared what food they love most on Thanksgiving. A group of kids yelled out “Pie! Apple pie. Chocolate pudding pie. Key lime pie.” Another said mashed potatoes, and a few mentioned cranberry sauce. Some said stuffing topped their list, while one student said he loved coffee. 

There was a vote for brownies and a few for ice cream, and one student said he really enjoys having pig leg. And lastly, a student quietly mentioned turkey as the favorite food. 

Officials said the clock is ticking on the school’s holiday donation effort, however. As part of a districtwide school construction plan, Barrington is expected to decommission Hampden Meadows School. In two years, fourth- and fifth-graders will instead attend their neighborhood schools.