See the miniature Thanksgiving Day parade Brooklyn students put together
NEW YORK - Elementary school students in Brooklyn are celebrating Thanksgiving in a unique way.
The students at Our Lady of Grace Academy turned their gym into a miniature version of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Students from grades 1-8 created their very own Thanksgiving Eve balloon spectacular, with miniature balloon handlers guiding floats down Avenue W - paved out of paper. Their miniature designs include a SpongeBob float.
The project is part of the STEAM program - science, technology, engineering, arts and math - with a focus on creativity and hands-on learning.
"We decided to do something hype, something unique, so it can match the vibe of the parade," eighth grader Amberleigh said.
"Macy's would love seeing this, because they really knock it out of the park," teacher Danielle Dispigno said.
Even though their attempt at remote controlled robotics didn't work, it taught the students to solve real world problems.
"Unfortunately, the floats were a little too heavy for them, so we couldn't get it to actually work with the robotics," teacher Stephanie Campanella said. "They know that things don't work all the time and they just learned to adjust."
"Thanksgiving's about love"
Not only did the students design and build their own floats, they also learned about the spirit of Thanksgiving
"Thanksgiving's about love, about being grateful, and I'm very happy to have two beautiful girls in my life," parent Alexandra Celestin said.
For the families and children, the miniature parade is even more special than the real one.
"I feel like it's better than the actual one," Amberleigh said.
Silvia Jimenez and David Mendez said perks of the miniature parade is that their children are stars of the show, plus they can stay indoors without having to worry about going out.
All that makes it a new Thanksgiving tradition, for them.