HUNTINGTON BEACH : Students Honor Their Family Ties

Grandparents came from as far away as Egypt and the Philippines, and some from as close as across the street.

It was a special day at Isojiro Oka Elementary School this week as students welcomed their grandparents or a special guest, including aunts, uncles and friends. The guests visited classrooms and shared stories of their own school years and childhoods. They were also treated to a Thanksgiving presentation in their honor.

“I remember always being late for school--and I only lived two blocks away,” recalled Anne Shriver, 77, of Huntington Beach, who visited the classroom of her grandson, Joseph Dutra, 8. “I’d wait for the last bell to ring and get in just under the wire.”

Mac and Ann Rosenhaft of Laguna Hills, married nearly 55 years, told students in grandson Joshua Gitsham’s class about their childhoods.

“We didn’t have the freedom children have today,” Ann Rosenhaft said about her school days in Brooklyn, N.Y. “We sat in rows with our hands folded and waited for orders from the teacher.”

Third-grade teacher Maggi Brummett said the annual event, which always takes place during Thanksgiving week, helps give students a sense of identity, of who they are and where they came from.

“It also shows the children that what they’re doing (in school) is special, worthwhile and important,” she said.

Students, including 8-year-old Joshua Gitsham, were especially proud of their classroom visitors.

Said Joshua, who showed his grandparents his desk: “They’re very special to me because they do nice stuff for me. I love them a lot.”