Chapter 3, The Presentation

The rest of the Thanksgiving weekend went by rather quickly, being more or less, uneventful, as the gang continued to enjoy Indian Summer, splashing around in Tommy and Dil's pool, watching the latest direct to video Reptar film, and putting some finishing touches, on their presentation. Monday finally came around, and while the day seem to drag on for the most part, after having a four day weekend, seventh period finally arrived, and sure enough, Mister Beaker was there once again, subbing for Miss O'Keefe.

"Good day to you class. I hope everybody had a wonderful and exciting Thanksgiving vacation. Me? I spent mine in the Bahamas! And, I believe it's time to start presenting your presentations. Our first group up, is Z Double N G W." Said Mister Beaker, as Z, Nicole, Nicholas, Geoffery, and Wally, made their way to the front of the room.

"Our project, is all about the importance of Thanksgiving, and we felt, that the most important thing about Thanksgiving, was football." Explained Z, as he posted a Powerpoint presentation on the overhead projecter, displaying pictures of the game that aired on Thanksgiving day.

For the next minute and a half, they talked about nothing but the football game that aired on Thanksgiving day. Giving the play-by-play, and who won the game.

"Boo." Groaned the entire class.

"That was, well, very interesting to say in the least. Now, why don't we skip the remaining three and a half minutes of this presentation, and go straight to the D minus." Said Mister Beaker, as he dismissed Z, Nicole, Nicholas, Geoffery and Wally, back to their seats.

"I have a feeling this bogus project idea had to be the work of Nicholas, the guy can't do anything if he puts his mind to it." Thought Lil to herself, thinking back to the previous year, when she had teamed up with him to do a science project for the science fair, only to have it be a mess, while at the same time, ditching her project with Kimi, to create a one man band, while Tommy teamed up with his dad, only for his dad, to get the credit for the work in the end, cuz, he went, a bit overboard.

"And now, let's present Team PDF with their Thanksgiving presentation." Said Mister Beaker, as Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Kimi, all made their way to the front of the room.

"Good afternoon class. I have here a movie, directed by me, that shows the importance, of Thanksgiving, based off of our personal experiences, after spending our Thanksgiving day, helping my grandma Lulu, feed people, at our local homeless shelter." Said Tommy, as he put in the DVD of his video into the computer, and pressed play, to start rolling the film.

"It was tough getting started, but we managed to wake up, and hop to it." Narrated Tommy, as the video shot up to a close up of Lil, yawning as she was still trying to wake up at the ungodly hour of six in the morning.

"Once we were awake though, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work, of course, we had a few bumps along the way." Narrated Tommy, as a shot of Dil is seen, trying to carry the stack of plates on his head, and they scattered all over the floor, when he was trying to set the tables.

The class burst into laughter.

"But once we had the meal prepared, all of the people at the shelter, appreciated our hard work." Narrated Tommy, as the film cut to a shot of all of the homeless people, dining on their meal, Chuckie, helping some of the smaller children with their food, and a close up of the elderly woman, who stood up, and publically thanked the rugrats and Peter, or as she called them, these teenagers, for coming out here, and giving up their Thanksgiving day with their families, to give them a hot meal.

"But while we saw everything, from torn clothing, to injured people, and people who smelled, we were happy to help them out, not just because they were in need, but after doing what we did, we all learned an even deeper lesson that day." Continued Tommy.

Tommy then motioned to Chuckie, to continue the presentation, as footage of the video continued to show shots of the rugrats preparing the meal, and serving the homeless people.

"In 1620, the pilgrims came to America, to seek freedom, but while searching for that freedom, that lacked a few important items. Those items, consisted of food, and shelter. But the native Americans, came to their aid, giving them a feast to be proud of. On this Thanksgiving day, in November of 2023, my sister, friends and I, all got to play the role of those native Americans, as we fed the homeless pilgrims, a hot, delicious meal. But while we fed them that meal, we realized something. We realized what we are lucky to have. A home to go to every night. A hot meal on the table prepared by our moms and dads. The ability to take showers, and to buy new clothes, when ours get too warn or small for us. But even more importantly, we now know what Thanksgiving, really means. It means being thankful for what you do have, and helping out those, who are less fortunate, in hopes that with a little bit of help from you, they too, can live a happier life. This isn't just something you should do on Thanksgiving day alone, if anything, helping those less fortunate than yourselves, is something, you should consider doing, every day of the week. Tommy's grandma has been volunteering at this homeless shelter for years, and we didn't realize what we were missing, until we spent a day there, and saw the deeper reward, the reward, of a good deed done, when helping your fellow citizens, or as Tommy's brother likes to call them, your fellow earthlings, and fellow beings, from the known, and unknown universes." Explained Chuckie.

A few students chuckled at Chuckie's last comment, before he continued.

"My friends and I are planning to go help Lulu at the homeless shelter every Saturday, because we want to make a difference in our community, and share what we believe, to be the importance of Thanksgiving, on a daily basis. I hope that after viewing our video presentation today, you too, will take this message home, and consider making a difference in your community, for generations to come." Concluded Chuckie, as the class gave Team PDF, a huge applause.

"That, was the best presentation I've ever seen. Team PDF, I give you, an A plus." Said Mister Beaker.

The rugrats smiled at one another, as they went and took their seats, to listen to the rest of the presentations during the remainder of class.

The End

Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed that story, and, I hope all of my Fan Fiction readers who celebrate, have a safe, and Happy Thanksgiving today, with your friends and families, or a bunch of strangers at a homeless shelter, as you follow in the steps of the rugrats, and do what they did in my story. You all take care, and be looking for more stories from me, coming soon, to a fan fiction site near you!