Inaugural Harvest Festival to help support students, families in need

The Springfield High School Arts Department and the Culinary Arts Program at the River Valley Technical Center will come together this week to present the school’s first Harvest Festival. The festival, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 9 at the high school, will be open to the community.

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2016-11-08 / Local Print article Print Inaugural Harvest Festival to help support students, families in need By TORY JONES toryb@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield High School Arts Department and the Culinary Arts Program at the River Valley Technical Center will come together this week to present the school’s first Harvest Festival. The festival, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 9 at the high school, will be open to the community. "It's going to be a wonderful, busy night," said SHS Interim Principal Bindy Hathorn, according to a press release from SHS English and theater teacher Rebecca Skrypeck. The Harvest Festival will also serve as a fundraiser in support of helping to keep students and families fed. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the event will go to the Backpack Food Pantry, an SHS program providing students in need with food for the weekend, and the Springfield Family Center. The RVTC and SHS are “reinforcing the community connection” this year by hosting the event together with parent-teacher conferences and the Summer Opportunities fair, Hathorn said. The festival is scheduled to begin with a hearty meal of soup and bread from 5 to 7 p.m, followed by musical performances from 7:30 to 8 p.m., according to Skrypeck. This year’s festival is the first of what will become an annual event, according to the press release. Student-made artwork and crafts, including handcrafted ceramic bowls, will also be available for sale. SHS students in visual arts and arts integration sessions are donating the crafts and artwork they create to the fundraiser, she said. River Valley Technical Center Chef Dave Groenewold and Chef Donna Vargas, along with the students they supervise, will all be donating their time to create the meal. Skrypeck said she did not yet have the menu, but that in the past, culinary arts students have made a variety of breads and soups, including butternut, minestrone, broccoli and cheddar, and corn chowder. Drinks and desserts are usually provided by classes or school clubs, which collect the proceeds for their use, she said. Students from the tech center’s Culinary Arts program will cook and serve the meal. The festival project is part of that program, and students will receive community service credit for serving meals and for volunteering their time to set up and help during the festival, Skrypeck said. Local businesses and community members are also lending a hand to help raise funds. Most of the ingredients for the dinner are gifts from area businesses and individuals to the school for the festival, Skrypeck said. Tickets for the meal will be $7. Concert admission will be free. All events are scheduled to take place at the high school. All fund raised from meals, crafts, bowls, and artwork will be donated to the backpack meals and family center programs, she said. For more information, call SHS at (802) 885-7900.