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Harrison Hill students continue annual turkey-gobble tradition

Ella Abbott
/
WBOI News
Students competing in the Gobble Off do it anonymously, from under handmade turkey masks, lined up behind painted turkey bodies.
Ella Abbott
/
WBOI News
Harrison Hill assistant principal Rose Worman hoists the frozen 15 pound turkey given to the winner over her head for the student body to see. Worman and principal Shannon Rodgers both wear turkey hats every year for the festivities.

Harrison Hill Elementary School held its 36th annual Gobble Off today/Tuesday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

This yearly tradition brings students together in Harrison Hill’s auditorium to cheer their fellow classmates on as they compete for the best gobbler.

Before that, though, students compete within their classrooms to decide who they’ll send to the school-wide competition. For one third grade class, their representative was Genesis.

She’s taken home second place before, when she was in kindergarten, but this year she’s competing in a different age bracket; third through fifth graders. But she’s motivated to win.

Ella Abbott
/
WBOI News
The first and second place winners of the Gobble Off this year hold their prizes. First place winner Jakhi is a back-to-back winner, having taken home first place last year as a second grader.

“I want my family to be happy because some of my family members are not in this country and they’re in like Mexico and North Carolina and I want to make my family happy because they never get to have a family dinner.”

But she wasn’t really aiming for first place.

“I’m trying to get the pie again.”

The first place winner gets a 15 pound frozen turkey to take home to their family and second place receives a frozen pumpkin pie. Genesis says she had pumpkin pie for the first time this year and really liked it.

Ultimately, Genesis didn’t take home the pie or the turkey, but she’ll keep trying.

Ella Abbott is a multimedia reporter for 89.1 WBOI. She is a strong believer in the ways audio storytelling can engage an audience and create a sensory experience.