Spoons Across America

Classroom quotes

The parents:

My daughter was so proud to be the hostess and the program has definitely had an effect at home. She’s behaving much more grown up at mealtimes; she’s more interested in leaving TV to come to the table and is much more willing to try new things than before. Dinner has become ‘an event’ at home, and we’ve decided to let Bonnie have two evenings per week when she can plan and help prepare the family meal. Thank you for The Dinner Party, it’s really made meals more enjoyable for my family.

—Suzanne Savoy, parent, P.S. 11

Initially there was a lot of reticence on the part of parents who feared the cooking would be too much for the kids and the bulk of the work would fall on them. But between the organization of the cooking and the oven bags, it became very clear that the kids could do it…what I heard from parents was, ‘thanks so much for getting me involved.’

—Colleen Croft, parent, P.S. 290

The teachers:

The dinner party was the biggest turn out for families all year. Parents I’d almost never seen were hugging me. It was fabulous for our school community. As for the kids, they really made an effort to try everything, and some were really adorable about showing etiquette, thinking about their manners.

—Miranda Millage, teacher, P.S. 116

And most importantly, the kids:

I think I will have another dinner party at home because that night my parents were so proud of me and I want them to be proud of me again.

—Miranda, 4th grade, P.S. 116

The Dinner Party changed my opinion about trying new food…I really don’t like to try new things but I did and it was great! So now I’m always going to try something new.

—Alexis, 4th grade, P.S. 116


My favorite activity was cooking because we actually cooked and chopped things. I also learned nutrition is more important than I thought and eating right is fun.

—Gene, 5th grade, P.S. 111

I would like to have a dinner party like this with my family because when my mom can’t talk to me I can make a dinner party so we can be together.

—Christian, 5th grade, P.S.111