Beit Rabban "Gratitude Parade" Offers Thanks to the Neighborhood of Everyday Heroes of New York City

NEW YORK, Nov. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Now in its fifth year, Beit Rabban Day School's "Pre-Thanksgiving Day Parade-Parade" (yes, that's parade twice!) has become a staple of New York's entry to the holiday season. Preschool through eighth-grade students will parade through the streets surrounding the Beit Rabban campuses, starting at 9:20 a.m. on November 23rd, in front of the Beit Rabban Day School at 15 W 86th (CPW & 86th). The entire school will parade together for one avenue towards Columbus. Then classes will continue mini-Parades around the Upper West Side to give their handmade Boxes-O-Gratitude to neighborhood institutions. The Parade will then regroup back in front of Beit Rabban at 10 a.m.

"The Pre-Thanksgiving Day Parade-Parade tradition teaches our children to pause and notice all the community members whose work makes a difference in their lives. It's a way for the children to show their gratitude to the heroes of New York City," says Stephanie Ives, head of Beit Rabban Day School. "This year, we have so much to be grateful for as we look forward to our entire school moving into one beautiful location in just a few months, and we can finally engage with each other without all the pandemic-imposed restrictions."

These Boxes-O-Gratitude are filled with handmade gifts, signs, and notes for community heroes and helpers, including essential workers. Some of the places this year are The New York City Fire Department, Animal General (Primary and Emergency Care Pet Hospital), The Wild Bird Fund (Animal Rescue Volunteers and Vets), Officers at the New York City Police Department, and the workers and staff at PETCO. In the past, classes have given thanks to the West Side Campaign Against Hunger (pantry representatives and volunteers), Metropolitan Transit Authority (B/C Station booth attendants on 86th & CPW), Lab-Q COVID-19 mobile testing sites (technicians at the walk-up clinic), pharmacies giving COVID-19 & flu vaccines (such as CVS), and Westside Pediatrics (all staff). Along the parade route, students will celebrate NYC sanitation workers, construction crews, childcare helpers and other caregivers, police officers, delivery people (UPS, FedEx, Amazon, Fresh Direct, etc.), coffee baristas, building door attendants, USPS postal workers, deli and bodega shopkeepers, as well as everyday people with whom they share community.

Neighbors cheer, and cars and trucks honk to support the students on parade. Past helpers have expressed how "overwhelmed with gratitude" they are about the experience of being publicly recognized by students and teachers. Between stops, students and staff chant "You are appreciated!" and other expressions of gratitude, stopping to thank people all along the way. Leading up to Thanksgiving, Beit Rabban teachers' school-wide offer a deep dive into appreciation and civics, illuminating the Jewish value of "Hakarat HaTov" (appreciating others for their contributions), and children make signs of gratitude with recycled materials to carry with them as they cover the neighborhood in appreciation and positive energy.

For more information, see this video from last year's Parade-Parade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5A_v2iQGT8.

About Beit Rabban Day School

Beit Rabban Day School is a Jewish community school on the Upper West Side with a preschool through eighth-grade program home to deep and joyful learning. The education fuses rigor and wonder to foster active learners who are adept critical thinkers and problem solvers; empowered Jews who possess the fluency, skills, and passion for living fulfilling Jewish lives; curious human beings who approach learning as a lifelong endeavor; and kind community members who care for themselves, their immediate communities, and their world. The school will soon move to a new home on 89th Street between Broadway and West End.

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SOURCE Beit Rabban Day School