There's a second-grade teacher on Principal Cristina Flippen's staff who's especially nurturing and affectionate.
In this Oak Grove Elementary class, pupils watch chickens hatch each year, then the teacher takes the baby birds to the family farm to live.
Each November, the classroom filled with little chairs and little crayon- and glue-stick-stuffed desks becomes the site of a Pilgrimesque Thanksgiving. The class spends days churning butter, grinding wheat for bread and making soup before inviting parents to share in the feast.
