In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Punahou students across multiple grade levels engaged in hands-on activities designed to deepen their understanding of gratitude.
In Alice Kimura and Shelley Wee ’01 Uchima’s first grade class, students began by reading a book about thankfulness and brainstorming what they appreciate most – from family and friends to teachers, pets, clean air and water. Mrs. Uchima guided them in crafting full sentences using descriptive adjectives, helping them grow as young writers. Students then used their ideas to write personal Thanksgiving messages of gratitude to share with their families over the holiday.
In Pam Piper ’91 Fox’s third grade class, students worked with sentence stems – structured starter phrases that help them develop more complete and thoughtful writing. After reflecting on what they were grateful for, they wrote their messages on hand-cut green paper leaves. The class then added the leaves to a life-size hala tree made of brown construction paper. As the tree filled, it became a striking visual display of thankfulness, echoing the hala tree’s symbolism of transition, resilience and connection in Hawaiian culture.
In Stephanie Lum Yee’s fifth grade class, students identified three topics they were grateful for and elaborated on why each mattered to them. They paired their writing with an art component, painting a bare tree branch and later adding red, orange and yellow tissue-paper “leaves” using pencils dipped in glue. The final pieces resembled autumn foliage and served as colorful reflections of their gratitude.
In Kumu Eliza Leineweber ’92 Lathrop and Kumu Kuanoni Kaniaupio-Crozier’s garden class, sixth grade students harvested rosemary and bay leaves to assemble bouquet garni bundles – fragrant herbs they had helped cultivate throughout the semester. As part of a 12-section garden curriculum, students regularly grow and harvest produce to share with their teams. Just before break, sixth graders posed proudly with their herb bundles, embracing aloha ʻāina and contributing something they grew themselves to their family Thanksgiving meals.
Across campus, projects like these encouraged students to think deeply, write thoughtfully and express gratitude creatively – a meaningful way to usher in the Thanksgiving holiday.
