By Grace Flinn

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday of blessings and giving thanks on the fourth Thursday of  November each year.   

      It was first celebrated in 1621 when the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians shared their harvest. Families have their own or follow the same traditions on the holiday. When one thinks of Thanksgiving they think of the traditional Thanksgiving feast: turkey or ham, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and pie for dessert. Before the Thanksgiving dinner some families join together around the table and give thanks for the food they are provided. After the families finish their Thanksgiving dinner, two individuals take the “wishbone” the bone attached to the breast meat in the turkey’s chest. They each take and end of the wishbone and make a wish. They pull on each end to break the wishbone in two, and whomever has the bigger piece, their wish will come true.

     Thanksgiving Day is the busiest travel day of the year when families travel far distances to be with their loved ones. Giving thanks is an important part of this special holiday. Family and friends get together and think about the moments they cherish and are grateful for they have. We are reminded on this day it is important to give thanks and share and give. Some families even like to help others in need that do not have the home or family to visit on Thanksgiving Day. Some will volunteer to help serve or donate to the homeless, Thanksgiving food at homeless shelters.

     Before the Thanksgiving feast, loved ones gather to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. There are many bands and floats with giant balloons shown in the parade, along with dancers and singers. Also, the traditional football games on television. It is a day to relax with your family and sit around to enjoy the Thanksgiving food.

    Thanksgiving Day allows families to get in the Christmas Holiday spirit. Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving where it gives a day for one to shop for the holiday season at stores with the best deals. Some stores and malls start their deals on Thanksgiving Day to give more time for people to get shopping done. Although, some might think it will cut into the family time they need on the special holiday.

     Thanksgiving is not all about the food, football games, parade, and shopping. It is a day to spend time with loved ones, and give to others. It reminds people to be grateful for what they have.

     Weekends are days where students can sleep in and relax, but homework can get in the way of those relaxing days.

     Homework, whether during the week or on the weekend, is something most students are not looking forward to doing. Getting home from a 7-hour school day to look at 2-3 hours of homework a night can be a drag. While most students dread homework over the weekend, it is also okay to bring school somewhat into students’ lives outside of the classroom.

    “[Homework on the weekends] is sort of debatable, some students do not even think about school on the weekends while there are some students who are in honors classes who get homework over the weekend.”said freshmen Jason Liu.

     Unfinished projects or papers sometimes need that extended time the weekend offers. Some students work after school or are involved in extracurricular activities, so they are not able to get what they need to get done during the week. It is true in which some students have events that take the entire weekend and homework over those days are added stress, but those are not very often. On top of that, most teachers are lenient on giving extensions for unplanned circumstances.

    While it can not be helped, homework should not happen all the time over the weekend, only when it is necessary. Most students do not mind doing a little bit of homework here and there sometimes, but when it starts to get in the way of their family life and such, then it starts to become a problem for them. Students would much rather go and hang out with their friends then do homework, but there are times where students have to sit down and get work done.

     “[Teachers should not give students homework over the weekend] because that is the student’s only free time during the week. It is [their] only two days off from school during the week,” said sophomore Brianna Erler.

    It is not a bad thing for students to bring home work from school but some students believe that school work should stay in school. Although this is understandable, there is not enough time during the school day to finish all that needs to be learned. Going home and doing some school work helps students remember what they were taught in school. It also allows them to get help from older siblings or parents if there is something they do not understand.

Even though most students would disagree, having homework over the weekends is not as troublesome as they think.