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OPINION: Longer days off for an important holiday

By Audrey Pellico

Where we are today is nowhere close to where we thought we would be in the 1600s when the Pilgrims and Native Americans sat down together peacefully to eat a feast together, well known as Thanksgiving. Batavia High School only has three days plus the following weekend off for Thanksgiving. That’s only a total of five days, which isn’t nearly enough to show our gratitude for how hard the pilgrims worked to survive the hardships of trying to create a new country. I believe we should have at least a full week, plus the weekend off for Thanksgiving break.

First off and most importantly is that Thanksgiving is the holiday in which the pilgrims sat down peacefully with the Native Americans and ate together. If this didn’t happen who knows if the Pilgrims would have made it through the winter without their help; they were the ones who taught us the tricks the pilgrims didn’t need to know in England. The Pilgrims most likely would’ve starved, and we might not be here today. Now I call that important, worthy of more  than just three days off. This holiday celebrates a major turning point in our country.

Thanksgiving is also good for spending time with family. Thanksgiving as a holiday brings the whole family together, gives us bonding time and gives us time to be thankful for all that we have. We should have more days off to be able to actually sit down with our family instead of rushing around like we do during a normal school week.

Thanksgiving is also known for eating delicious food. The days leading up are for families to get together and cook their outstanding, famous dishes; it takes time to make the perfect meal. The roasting of turkeys, if done well, could take a couple of days, which is also why we should have more days off to prepare for the family feast most people have.

Thanksgiving is also a good time to do charity work. During the holidays, many people volunteer, and it would be better planning if we had more days off to work with others. Remember, this is the holiday of giving and being thankful. Places like animals shelters, food pantries, and national parks could always use our help.

Many people, including students at our school, think it’s okay to only have a couple days off. They believe that these days allow teachers to get in last-minute information and tests. Let’s be honest: for those two days, kids really aren’t paying attention and by the time break is over we would have already forgotten what we learned the last couple of days.

Also, many kids leave early for trips and would miss the work and tests that the teachers try to cram in and could stress kids out.

Overall, Thanksgiving is a great and educational holiday meant to be spent with family. It brings people closer together, and it helps people appreciate what they usually take for granted. It’s a great time to spend outdoors and indoors doing activities with friends and family. It should not be spent trying to cram a bunch of tests in two days before we leave for break. That’s why we should have a whole week off for Thanksgiving break.

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