Winman English as a Second Language (ESL) students got the opportunity to try an American Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday - many, for the first time.

The meal, which was prepared and served by culinary students at Tides Restaurant at the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center (WACTC), was the culmination of lessons about Thanksgiving.

Teacher Lissa Scarpellino said the class has doubled in size since last year, going from nine to 18 students, who hail from countries including Venezuela, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guatemala and Syria.

The jump in the number of ESL students has left Scarpellino with thinner resources than before, but bringing her class together and connecting with them has been something that’s helped.

“Normally, I’m able to go into some of their classes and be with them and help them in real time with social studies, with science, but I’m not able to get into the regular classrooms as often as I’d like,” she said.

While Thanksgiving is an American holiday, many countries have a harvest holiday, leading to students making connections between their native countries and America. The meal also counted as an assignment for the students, who were required to write two adjectives about each piece of food that they were served, ranging from yummy to yucky, with everything in between.

Other lessons taught before the meal included table etiquette, vocabulary and the history of Thanksgiving. Scarpellino said that the history of the holiday- as well as the history of the founding of Rhode Island- were topics that had a lot of parallels to the students, primarily immigrants themselves.

“The significance of this is that they have a point of reference when they’re interacting with their friends, their peers in other classrooms,” Scarpellino said. “Assimilating as part of a new culture means learning and making experiences.”

According to Austin Irons, WACTC culinary arts teacher, the experience was also special for students serving the meals.

“I think they really learned a lot from the experience, and it was great having that many people in at once,” he said.

Signs showing students what dishes they were being served were translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese and Arabic as well. Not every dish had a direct translation, though- “gravy” ended up being translated as “salsa” in Spanish and “sauce” in French, as American-style gravy is rare enough in those cultures to not warrant having its own term.

New twists were also put on the meal from the students’ countries of origin. According to Scarpellino, when learning table manners, students from Syria and Egypt said that in their culture, crossing the utensils on a clean plate is a sign that they enjoyed the meal, leading to the class adopting that.

“Cultures influence each other,” she said.

As for the meal, student Nicolas Mateo Santos, originally from the Dominican Republic, said that the cranberry sauce was acceptable, but the turkey was amazing.

The meal was a success, according to Scarpellino, who said that teaching students how to go about more practical aspects of American life is something that she’d consider in the future.

“Going to a supermarket, you know even something like ordering at a drive-thru for the first time,” Scarpellino said. “A lot of these kids don’t get to do that that much.”

For the students, being able to make connections and learn about American culture together has brought them together, no matter their country of origin.

 “What’s interesting is being part of the community, being able to meet people,” Adam Hamza, who moved from Egypt in March, said. Pointing to classmate Aneurys Garcia, who was trying to stifle a laugh, Hamza said “This is the most important thing.”