Thanksgiving at Hall-Woodward Elementary

On Thanksgiving Day, several hundred people had their holiday dinner at Hall-Woodward Elementary School. Winston-Salem Journal reporter Jordan Howse and photographer Walt Unks were there.

Here are a couple of pictures and an excerpt from their story:

Isabella Jimenez, 6, had finished most of her Thanksgiving meal at Hall-Woodward Elementary School. She was patiently waiting for her mother’s approval to dive into her apple pie.

With her mother’s slight nod, she plunged her fork into the flaky crust to top off her meal with her family at her school.

Nearly 300 other people joined Isabella at Hall-Woodward for a free Thanksgiving meal Thursday.

The meal was offered to students, their families and the Hall-Woodward community as a way to foster relationships and bring everyone together for the holiday.

Isabella’s sister, Sandi Jimenez, 13, is a former student of Hall-Woodward and came with her mother and two other siblings.

“Usually we’d either cook at home and invite friends over or cook a dish and go to a friend’s house,” Sandi said. “It saved time and money to come here.”

The dinner of turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, rolls and apple pie was set in motion by Celena Tribby, the principal, Eric Jones, the parent-involvement coordinator and the Rev. Oscar Pilson of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Kernersville.

“Our school is 100-percent free and reduced lunch,” Jones said. “We thought it would be good for our families and the community to have a Thanksgiving meal here.”

To see more pictures and read the rest of the story, go to Winston-Salem Journal