Brookside Elementary School Students Participate in "Stone Soup" Activity Before Thanksgiving

A decades-old tradition all about service and community is alive and well at Brookside Elementary School. Second-grade students participated in the “Stone Soup” activity thanks to the dedication of faculty, staff, and parent volunteers.

“Many years ago, when we were a second and third-grade school, second-grade teachers wanted to have a community-building activity. Some of us would bring in ingredients for the soup, and we’d make it right in our classrooms,” said teacher Tara Reynolds. “Later, it evolved into a combination of a Thanksgiving lunch tradition and an opportunity to learn about the different versions of the Stone Soup folk tale.”

In the “Stone Soup” story, a community of people was initially unwilling to share their food and needed to be tricked into contributing ingredients, one by one, to the stone soup. Eventually, they unknowingly created a lavish feast for everyone, which helped them realize the value of sharing and the importance of community. The Stone Soup folk tale varies significantly depending on the retelling, but it imparts a lesson about sharing, community and contribution to students.

“Now they get this hands-on experience of enjoying the soup that they personally contributed to by providing ingredients, just like in the story, and then eating together as a class,” Reynolds said.

Students enjoyed their hot soup as they retold the folk tale. At the direction of their teachers, students first smelled the well-seasoned soup before trying some of the red broth. Then, they enjoyed the soup in full with crackers. Students learned all about the power of collaboration through a tasty Thanksgiving lesson that left them asking for seconds.