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Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the year. And, for those kids in kindergarten, it is a time for learning about the first Thanksgiving in America that was shared by the Pilgrims and the Indians.

On Thursday, the students at the Hank Jones Early Childhood Learning Center in Troy assumed the role of the Indians and held Pow-Wows on the campus grounds. Following the pow-wows, the students shared a Thanksgiving dinner with their parents in the school lunchroom, making it a fun and memorable day for all, said Teresa Sims, Troy Elementary School principal.

The students shared the knowledge they have gained about the Pilgrims and Indians. The Pilgrims, they said, braved a three-month journey across the Atlantic Ocean to get to America. They arrived in the winter and were able to survive because the Indians taught them how to hunt deer, fish and plant corn.

Other students played drums they made and sang songs and danced. They all wore costumes they had hand-painted with Indian designs and beads and headbands. Some of the kindergarteners chose Indian names for the day, names including Silent Elk, Dancing Bird and Purple Pony.

Sims said Thanksgiving is a time for learning through doing and also a time to be thankful for the blessings that come with being an American.

The young Indians shared the things for which they are most thankful and, to a one, it was family – mother, daddy, grandparents, brother, sister, cousins and uncle and a puppy dog.