HEART OF THE HOLIDAY; PUPILS OFFER LESSON IN GIVING THANKS.

Byline: Dennis McCarthy 

They should sell tickets to the Thanksgiving feast going on in Room 4 at Shirley Avenue Elementary School in Reseda today.

Sell them to anyone who's going to be alone on Thanksgiving this year. Sell them to families who may have forgotten over the years what the day really means.

Because it is in Room 4 where you can find it again. The real Thanksgiving.

All you have to do is clear your mind and let 22 special-education students - kids who have been labeled by the system as educably retarded - teach you.

They're more than glad to try.

They walked or rode slowly in their wheelchairs down the Ralphs supermarket aisles last Friday, looking at the pictures in their hands, trying to match them with the items up on the shelves.

When you can't read yet, this is the way you go shopping.

They all range in age from 7 to 11, with varying degrees of physical disabilities, these special kids in the two special-education classes taught by Cindy Fantillo and Kelly Donaldson.

For the past month, they have done little in class but learn about Thanksgiving. Learn about the pilgrims and the Indians and how that first Thanksgiving was a community effort. How everybody had to chip in and help.

Learn what everyone wore, what they ate and how the day was meant as a way to give thanks for the blessings they had received all year.

When they had learned all they could about the history and tradition of Thanksgiving, it was finally time on Friday to start living it.

This is hands-on learning, these teachers say - the best kind. It sticks with you longer.

``We wanted them to see everything from the beginning to the end so they could develop that sense of tradition and community,'' said Donaldson.

The kids broke off into groups in the supermarket to shop for the apples, potatoes, yams and other vegetables they would prepare for the feast.

When something on display matched the picture on the piece of paper they were holding, they became excited, eager to show one of the teachers or their aide, Patti Genise, what they had found.

On Monday, they baked the pies, and each brought a piece of fruit from home for the friendship fruit salad that will be on the table today.

They tried on their costumes and set the table, putting down the place mats that showed them exactly where to place their plates, cups and utensils.

But it was the back of the place mats that fascinated the kids in Room 4 on Monday. It was on the back where they got to express what they were thankful for this Thanksgiving.

For mom and dad. For a new baby sister or brother in the family. For a pet or a friend. For the teachers.

And when they had finished telling what they had to be thankful about this Thanksgiving, these kids - labeled educably retarded - went home to await the big day today.

The feast in Room 4, where they will show their parents and other students at Shirley Avenue Elementary School what Thanksgiving is really all about.

It's a shame the rest of us can't go to be reminded, too.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Special-education trainee Dora Nyi helps Alysha Rally, 7, chop an apple for a holiday fruit salad.

(2) Special-education students at Shirley Avenue Elementary School prepare food for a Thanksgiving feast with guests today.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer