Turkey Train at MICDS is a beloved tradition that unites our community in the spirit of giving and gratitude, and Monday’s 21st rendition was no exception. Once again, our generous community came out in force to support the St. Louis Area Foodbank, ensuring that hundreds of families in our region will enjoy delicious Thanksgiving meals this week.
For two weeks before Turkey Train, students in all grades brought in canned goods and other non-perishable items, filling rolling red cans in all three divisions. Our families were so generous that more red cans had to be brought in to hold all the food! Each division engaged in friendly competition, resulting in a cornucopia of delicious donations.
The Lower School, as per tradition, started with a large turkey hanging in the Beasley cafeteria. For every ten cans or boxes donated, students added a feather. It didn’t take long for our turkey to be bursting with feathers! By last Friday, he sported 127 feathers, which means Lower School students brought in over 1,270 items to be donated to the St. Louis Area Foodbank. Many more items were brought in on Monday!
A special edition of Beasley Broadcast recreated the beloved Thanksgiving Day Parade, showcasing the programming skills of our youngest learners with their Ozobot celebrities.
In the Middle School, fifth- and sixth-grade students teamed up to compete with their seventh- and eighth-grade peers, and the results were outstanding. Team 5/6 donated a whopping 1,122 items as of last Friday, with seventh grade bringing in 716 items and Team 8 donating 476. That adds up to over 2,300 food items as of last Friday. Monday, however, brought an onslaught of generosity. Our Middle Schoolers ended up donating a grand total of 4,344 canned and boxed goods! The winning grade level and advisory will be announced at the Middle School Meeting on December 7, when students will find out who gets a dress-down PJ day (grade level) and who gets to partner with our food service provider to create a lunch menu (advisory). Well done, Middle Schoolers!
Upper Schoolers competed by quadrant, donating frozen turkeys at the flagpole in A Lot. Our college counselors were on hand to direct students and count turkeys, and the frozen birds flowed in from every direction. A total of 255 turkeys were collected, and the Essman Quadrant with 69 turkeys won a point for field day. (Full quadrant report: Wildman 64, Macam 57, and Klinckhardt 54…way to go, students!)
Soon, it was time to start the train. With music blasting across campus thanks to our intrepid house DJ, Upper School Arts Teacher Patrick Huber, the frozen turkeys were passed hand over hand from A Lot all the way down to the MAC, where bins awaited to be filled and then loaded into a large truck from the St. Louis Area Foodbank. Once again, Huber did not disappoint with his themed musical selections, which included Love Train by The O’Jays and Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne.
With all the donations loaded and ready for delivery to the St. Louis Area Foodbank, our community gathered for an all-school assembly. A survey by Upper School students showed what students, faculty, and staff are thankful for.
Everyone streamed in to the beautiful music of the MICDS Orchestra, led by Dr. Jo Nardolillo, JK-12 Arts Department Chair and Orchestra Director. A feeling of generosity, camaraderie, and excitement filled the air. Upper School Community Service Committee Co-Heads Shritha Devisetty ’26 and Abhinav Katyal ’25 took the podium and shared a joke. «What do you call a running turkey?» The crowd murmured as everyone guessed what the answer might be. «Fast food!» A mixture of laughter and groaning filled the MAC, and our co-heads went on to share samples from their gratitude survey and data such as the amount of food donated at the MICDS Turkey Train each year could feed an entire audience at The Muny! Lower School student representatives presented a symbolic food basket to St. Louis Area Foodbank representative Jordan Casey, who expressed appreciation for the generosity of our community and shared that the turkeys donated that morning would be distributed on Tuesday, in time for Thanksgiving dinners across the area on Thursday. Head of School Jay Rainey offered some thoughts and reminded students that one of the words in our Mission Statement is virtue, which means strength of heart. The Upper School Chamber Choir then concluded the event with a moving performance of our Alma Mater directed by Upper School Choir Teacher Dana Self. As students, faculty, and staff left the MAC to return to the school day, they enjoyed rousing music played by the Upper School Band, led by Bernard Berry, Middle and Upper School Band Director.
«The Turkey Train is really important to the MICDS community because it allows students to reflect on their own gratitude while also giving back to those in need,» said Devisetty. «It’s a great way to bring everyone together with a shared goal of making a difference. I think it’s meaningful that we, as students, have the opportunity to serve others, especially since we’re so fortunate to be part of a school like MICDS. The holidays can be a challenging time for families facing food insecurity, so knowing that our school can have such a significant impact on the St. Louis area is something I’m really proud of.»
«As a senior, Turkey Train will always be one of the fondest memories I will hold from MICDS,» said Katyal. «From hearing about the event from my older brother to participating for the first time in 2021, to now having the honor of speaking as a Community Service Committee cohead at our all-school Thanksgiving assembly, I’ve cherished all these experiences. Beyond this though, the most impactful part of the Turkey Train for me is the unseen impact our united MICDS community will have this holiday season. It’s inspiring how our entire JK-12 student body and faculty come together to serve the underprivileged during Turkey Train, but I don’t think many of us truly realize the personal impact MICDS will have this Thanksgiving. When we come together, we can truly make a wonderful impact in our local and larger regional communities!»
Thank you to our community for your overwhelming generosity again this Turkey Train. We donated 5,974 pounds of non-perishable food items and 3,660 pounds of turkey. Many families donated money, amounting to $1,184 (that rises to $2,881.33 when accounting for various matches). The St. Louis Area Foodbank is providing 19,365 meals from these Turkey Train donations alone, an amazing gift to our area community. Your strength of heart is inspiring!