Students share opinions on holiday

Although only official since 1863, Thanksgiving celebrations have occurred all over America since 1621. The original Thanksgiving occurred when Governor William Bradford organized a feast between pilgrims and Native Indians to celebrate the first successful corn harvest. Students also anticipate the week-long Thanksgiving break starting Nov. 19 and ending Nov. 23.

History of Thanksgiving

In 1620, a group of colonists boarded the Mayflower and left England to worship as they pleased along with the hope of newfound wealth. Starting their colony on the Massachusetts coast, only half of the Mayflower’s passengers survived their first winter. Soon the pilgrims were introduced to Squanto, a Native Indian who spoke English and taught them how to survive in the new land. He also created a friendly relationship between the colony and the nearby Wampanoag tribe.

After their first harvest the pilgrim and Native Americans celebrated with a feast lasting for three days and soon their second thanksgiving was celebrated after an especially long drought. Eventually as new surrounding colonies formed the tradition of giving thanks was continued. Even today Americans give thanks for their blessings, continuing traditions lasting over 400 years.

Save the dates

Looking ahead, plan to attend A Nutcracker Like No Other, Nov. 17, showing at the Warnors Theatre, featuring FCS students.

Band, percussion and color guard will be performing in the Clovis Children’s Electric Lights Parade, Dec. 1.

Choir will be performing in their Christmas concert, Dec. 3.

Band and percussion will be performing their Christmas concert, Dec. 10.

Christmas break will start Dec. 17 and end Jan. 4, with school starting Jan. 7, 2019.

Students share perspective on Thanksgivng

Reminder to be thankful
Alina Davila, ’19
November 14, 2018

“I love Thanksgiving! It’s a time where everyone remembers what they are thankful for and what they appreciate. It’s a great reminder of all the blessings God has placed in our lives. During Thanksgiving, we basically do the traditional Thanksgiving meal. But we have it at lunch so we can have leftovers for dinner! One of the Thanksgiving traditions my family has, is when we make tamales for the whole family.”

Enjoying family during time off
Ashley Sciacqua, ’22
November 14, 2018

“I like Thanksgiving because I get to eat a lot of food, and you get to hang out with family and and be thankful for everything you have while enjoying the extra time off.”

Sharing thankfulness with family
Blake Burdan, ’20
November 14, 2018

“I like Thanksgiving because it’s a good holiday for family to come together from all over the place and give thanks and have fun together, which we don’t get to normally do.”

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— Q World News (@QWorldNews1) November 15, 2018

Appreciating family and turkey
Avery Walters, ’22
November 14, 2018

“I like Thanksgiving because you get to be thankful and you get to eat extra food, and have turkey. I usually visit family and have Thanksgiving dinner and then hangout at home. But my favorite Thanksgiving dish is turkey.”

Thanksgiving is just a filler holiday
Alexis Baker, ’21
November 14, 2018

“I don’t like Thanksgiving because the main food is turkey and turkey is just dry chicken and secondly the theme color for Thanksgiving is brown. It is just in the way of Halloween and Christmas, it’s just in the gap, it is like the Thursday of holidays.”

Reveling in the feast while recognizing blessings
Scott Falk, Vice principal and New Testament teacher
November 15, 2018

“I like being together with my family, our family is spread out all over the place and Thanksgiving is the one time we all come together as a family. I also like the feast and every part about it. And I like that we get a moment to focus all the really good things we have in life and where they come from.”

Bonding with distant family
Max Munoz, ’20
November 14, 2018

“I like Thanksgiving because I like to see all my family that I don’t get to usually see during the years. And there is so much good food to stuff myself with, we always go to my aunt’s house and it’s just a good time to bond and catch up.”

Expressing extra gratitude
Michelle Logan, High school and junior high office manager
November 15, 2018

“I do like Thanksgiving I think that it is a day where people purposely think about the things they are thankful for and it is just  a day where people spend extra time showing gratitude and gratefulness in their life. Traditionally we have big turkey and ham meal and any family that is available will come and we will all meet together and honestly just hang out together, playing  games, and laughing a lot.”

The following podcast furthers Logan Lewis’s excitement for Thanksgiving.

Reflecting on blessings
Riley Goldsborough, ’21
November 14, 2018

“It’s a time to enjoy food and it’s also a time to reflect on everything you have been blessed with and it’s a good time to gather with family members and eat a lot of food, it’s generally pretty great.”

Reminiscing over the past year
Brittany McCann, ’20
November 15, 2018

“I’m a fan Thanksgiving, I like the fact that I get to reflect on what I have been thankful for during the past year. And because they year is coming to an end I basically get to reminisce with everyone I see, especially my family, which is fun because I don’t get to  see them that often.”

This year Thanksgiving break will start Nov. 19 and end Nov. 23, with school starting Nov. 26.

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? Do you have any favorite moments of Thanksgiving? Share them below in the comments section.

For another Thanksgiving article read, Join the Discussion: Thanksgiving Break. For more articles read, Recent midterm legislation effects teens today and Boys soccer kicks off under new head coach.

Vijay Stephen can be reached via: Twitter and email. 

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