When Peter Bombaci arrived at Concord High School more than 20 years ago as a special education teacher, he was charged with creating a more inclusive environment. Where students with disabilities and students without did things together, something that wasn’t typical more than two decades ago.
So Bombaci had a thought.
“What better way to do it then with food,” he said.
For almost as long as Bombaci has been at Concord High, he’s been putting together a yearly Thanksgiving feast on the final day before the school breaks for the holiday.
“This dinner is kind of a thank you,” Bombaci said. “I’ve been doing it for about 20 years, and it’s something everyone looks forward to.”
Over the years, it has grown into one of the premier get-togethers on the school’s campus, considering it seems like most of the student and teacher population attend.
Okay, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but there were probably about 75 people who ate this year and next year it will likely be more. And it also shows just how far Bombaci’s plan for inclusion has come.
“It’s a nice way to do a Friendsgiving so our kids can experience it,” said Will Hodges, one of six special education assistants in Bombaci’s class who graduated from Concord High.
If you walked in to his classroom last Tuesday, you would have seen Bombaci carving turkeys, students from Best Buddies and Peer to Peer cooking in the small kitchen and serving food.
“It’s nice because I feel really fortunate for what I have and it’s nice to give back,” said Jorian Gallecci, president of Best Buddies.
Students from the special education classes were eating lunch with their parents and other students who just stopped by to hang out.
“When I went to school it wasn’t like this,” Bombaci said.
“I love seeing the peer kids in here cause everyone avoided this room like the plaque way back when,” said Audrey Wilson, a special ed assistant.
It’s not uncommon for students from traditional classes to be in Bombaci’s class at any point during the day. They come in during free blocks and at lunch. It’s probably even more than what Bombaci envisioned when he started at Concord High.
“They spend time with the kids and help out,” Bombaci said.
But we can’t forget to talk about this meal, ’cause it’s probably more involved then what you ate at your Thanksgiving last week. We’re talking lots of food.
There was 47 pounds of turkey that was cooked over two days at both the school and in Bombaci’s home oven. More than 15 pounds of mashed potatoes were brought in, along with four trays of stuffing, about a gallon of cream corn and rolls – lots of rolls. There were other side dishes, veggies and gravy. The turkey skins were pan fried and offered for those who enjoy that delicacy and plenty of desserts. We’re talking apple crisp, pumpkin pie, bars, cookies and breads. We told you it was a feast.
“Every year we get more and more people coming down,” Wilson said.
So between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., people got in line. With four different lunch times, there were waves of hungry Tide looking for a little prelude to the big meal on Thursday.
“We’re like a big family in this room,” said special education assistant Ali Simmers. “And not every kid here has this at home.”
Students served up the feast in a buffet style way and some took the meal and went back to their office or classroom, while others took up residence at the tables decorated in the classroom.
For just about every holiday, Bombaci and his staff put together a little shindig, but this is the big one for the year.
“It’s all about showing gratitude to those who help us throughout the year,” Bombaci said. “And some of them don’t have Thanksgiving dinner and this is the only one they have.”
It even included a gratitude wall on the windows outside the classroom where people used post-it notes to write what they were grateful for this year. We were just grateful we got invited to see just how awesome this tradition is.