An Alabama elementary school is no longer letting proselytization happen during music class.

A district parent reported to FFRF that their child, a first-grade student at Montevallo Elementary School in the Shelby County School District, came home singing a “Thanksgiving song” that they learned in music class. The lyrics to the song included: “Thank you God for the friends we keep, thank you God for the food we eat.”

FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote to the counsel for the school district. “This ‘Thanksgiving song’ is essentially a prayer and thus would be appropriate in a church setting, but not in a public school.”

After the school received FFRF’s letters, the district counseled staff about the importance of selecting programming that does not highlight a particular religion, and it is incorporating additional refresher training on those issues.