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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids Metro High School celebrates 50th annual Turkey Day
Students and staff at the alternative high school pitch in to make food for the feast
Metro science teacher Akash Kessri (left) served on the committee that peeled, boiled and mashed 50 pounds of potatoes. Secretary Toni Loyal (right) loaded up on collard greens after he helped the bread committee bake 200 rolls that were prepped on Monday for a meal at the school on Tuesday. (Dorothy de Souza Guedes)
Metro High School students overload paper plates with turkey and all the fixings, including stuffing, green bean casserole, cornbread and sweet potato casserole at Tuesday’s Metro High School Turkey Day in Cedar Rapids. (Dorothy de Souza Guedes)
Metro High School students load up on turkey and all the fixings at the annual Turkey Day holiday meal held Tuesday at the Cedar Rapids school. (Dorothy de Souza Guedes)
The bread committee got creative and baked an edible table decoration for Metro High School’s Turkey Day, held Tuesday at Metro in Cedar Rapids. (Dorothy de Souza Guedes)
Metro High School’s salad committee prepared two healthy veggie salads for Turkey Day, then added a Midwest favorite, Snickers Salad for Tuesday’s meal at the Cedar Rapids school. (Dorothy de Souza Guedes)
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CEDAR RAPIDS -- Before Metro High School students and staff went on break for Thanksgiving, they had some celebrating to do. On Tuesday, Metro celebrated Thanksgiving with its 50th annual Turkey Day.
It’s no small feat. This feast is carefully planned each year. Students and teachers serve on one of seven committees — from set up, to salads, desserts and vegetables.
Metro Principal Mark Groteluschen said without community support in the form of borrowing oven time at the ROC Center and NewBo City Market, the school wouldn’t be able to pull off the event every year.
Tuesday was Groteluschen’s 13th Turkey Day, his third as principal of the Cedar Rapids alternative high school. For 10 years prior, Groteluschen served on the potato committee, peeling potatoes.
Metro STEAM Academy science teacher Chuck Tonelli led the Turkey Committee, aka the Robotics Team, as they stayed up all night on Monday to roast the turkeys. Despite roasters missing parts or missing altogether, the team completed the job, roasting 10 turkeys, some two to a roaster. Tuesday morning, committee members de-boned all the turkeys in plenty of time for the 11 a.m. start of the Turkey Day feast.
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