Joliet’s Sator Sanchez School turns into great pumpkin patch

Joliet — Students at Sator Sanchez Elementary School in Joliet were treated to a special in-school field trip Friday: an on-site pumpkin farm provided by Will County businesses.

Jacey Desmarais, a kindergarten and first-grade teacher in Joliet Public Schools District 86′s ABC program –which works with students on the autism spectrum and is housed at Sator Sanchez for students up to fifth grade – had planned on taking students to a pumpkin farm for a field trip.

But the field trip had to be canceled due to logistical concerns for student safety.

Instead, she reached out to community members on Facebook, hoping to provide pumpkins for the students to decorate. Although she originally had sought donations of 100 small pumpkins and gourds for the students, she got more than she expected.

“We invited parents, but also grandparents, aunts and uncles – anybody who wanted to come take pictures and be part of the event.”

—  Jacey Desmarais, teacher at Sator Sanchez Elementary School

The request was met with enthusiasm by Heap’s Pumpkin Farm in Minooka, which donated 20 pie pumpkin, and Konow’s Corn Maze in Homer Glen, which promised 100 small, carvable pumpkins as well as hay bales and cornstalks to create a full pumpkin farm experience.

On Friday morning, Desmarais said she was surprised when the team of five men from Konow’s arrived with 200 small pumpkins – double the number they’d originally offered – aboard their truck, as well as gourds, hay and corn, which they set up in the grass behind the school for the students.

“This has been amazing,” Desmarais said. “It exceeded all my dreams. You could tell how much the guys from Konow’s cared when they were setting everything up, and they had a vision for how it should look. I just can’t thank everyone enough. I’m so happy.”

In addition to the pumpkins and decor from Heap’s and Konow’s, Gatica Creationz in Joliet donated a photo backdrop and balloons, which the Konow’s staff arranged with hay and several giant pumpkins so students could pose for photos.

Tractor Supply Co. in Channahon donated a 50-pound bag of dried corn for the students to play in.

Because of the surplus of pumpkins donated, Desmarais and ABC program coordinator Lorretta Guttierez decided as a last-minute surprise to invite the school’s four instructional special education classes to participate in the event as well as the ABC students.

“This has been really nice. We never expected we’d get this much support, and we were very excited to add more kids to the activity,” said Guttierez, who was coordinating the event outside with several of the program’s related services staff members as classes were brought out one by one to select their pumpkins. “Once they go inside, they get to decorate the pumpkins, and we have cookies being made in one classroom, so it’s a whole day of fun Halloween things.”

Parents also were invited to bring their non-school-aged children to the event with them to select pumpkins themselves.

“We’ve had a really good family turnout,” Desmarais said. “We invited parents, but also grandparents, aunts and uncles – anybody who wanted to come take pictures and be part of the event. They appreciate the chance to do this with their kiddos in a safe space, and with the extra pumpkins, we were able to let the younger siblings pick some, too.”

Antonio Lopez and his wife made the event a family affair, as they brought their infant son and helped their student, Darrel, pick out a pumpkin.

“I like that we get to get involved and see their development,” Lopez said. “We got to meet his best friend and his parents for the first time. It’s a fun moment for the kids to create core memories.”

The family of the school’s namesake, Sator Sanchez, also contributed to the festivities after hearing about the event on Facebook and donated pumpkin-painting kits to every classroom.

The holiday fun extended beyond the school day at Sator Sanchez, with the school’s trunk-or-treat event being held Friday night in the parking lot, an activity that the ABC students were allowed to take part in privately before the larger opening, to allow for a more calm, quiet experience.

The ABC program at Sator Sanchez hosts 95 students in 10 classrooms. In addition to the students in the program, 50 students from four additional, general special education classrooms also were provided pumpkins through the collective effort of the community.