Thanksgiving is a wonderful time, full of joy, thankfulness, family, and festivities. It is one of my favorite holidays and it kind of feels like a friendly reminder of all there is to be grateful for. Thanksgiving perfectly embodies the spirit of autumn. The warm colors of orange-toned table settings, the fresh smell of seasoned turkey in the oven, and the friendly chatter that fills the room. It is such a delightful holiday and season.
Clearly, you can see how much I love Thanksgiving, but I wanted to know what the people of HANC’s opinions on this fun holiday are too. So, I interviewed some students and faculty on their thoughts on Thanksgiving. I asked people what they are planning on doing, eating, and being thankful for, on this fun holiday, and I got loads of interesting and different results.
First and foremost, I asked people what their favorite Thanksgiving food or meal was, and I got a variety of answers. The most popular one, being stuffing. Talya Rosman, an 11th grade student remarked, “I really like stuffing, because it has sauteed vegetables, which is the bomb”. Several others said they love stuffing, such as Abigail Wunder (class of 2024), and Ms. Zimmerli, the art teacher, who says her mom makes the best stuffing.
Bella Hanuka, a freshman, says her Thanksgiving favorite is gravy with turnipuffs, and her bunny rabbit Daisy Mae likes bananas and lettuce. Some other holiday food favorites are… Strawberry Apple crisp, brussel sprouts, corn, cranberry crunch pie, and of course turkey.
Something interesting was that I asked two people what they are excited to eat this Thanksgiving. Mr. Masso, HANC’s math teacher, said that his favorite Thanksgiving food used to be turkey, “But now that I am a pescetarian it is going to be tofurky (tofu turkey) that my aunts are nice to enough to make for me” he said!!! According to Mr. Masso it actually does taste like turkey. Now this is where it gets really interesting. Orli Haftel, a Junior in HANC, said she’s really excited for Thanksgiving because she hasn’t eaten turkey in four years since she used to be a pescetarian, and no longer is. Ethan Lenefsky, however, said that he hates turkey, but loves ““WHATEVER HIS MOM COOKS”. Eden Rosenstock (class of 2025) said she does not like Thanksgiving food because she is a picky eater. This Thanksgiving brought about pescetarians old and new, and all different food preferences.
Next, I asked people what they were doing for Thanksgiving. Pretty much everybody said that they are spending time with family, cousins, grandparents, or family friends in places all over. Places such as Brooklyn, Oyster Bay, Teaneck, West Hempstead, and the Bronx.
Professor Murrel says, “I am going with my family to the rest of the family to have a wonderful dinner that we are all thankful for getting with each other” and that pretty much sums up the entirety of Thanksgiving. Abigail Wunder said she will be going shopping on Thanksgiving, which is so fun, especially with all of the black friday deals going on. Juniors, Eli Hazan and Ethan Lenefsky are playing football in the morning at the nearby highschool with a group of friends, and then later watching football. There are so many exciting plans for this Thanksgiving weekend.
Last, but certainly not least, I asked people what they are most grateful for. There was an overwhelming amount of responses, saying something along the lines of being appreciative for their close friends and loving family. Talya Rosman said she’s grateful for her friends who make the school year much better. Mr. Masso is very grateful for his appreciative students and that he gets to continue working in HANC. Ms. Zimmerli said “I am thankful for all the people in my life that care about me, all my students, fellow faculty members, and my cat, Suki”.
Yarden Weiss, a sophomore, said she is most thankful for the life her parents have given her, and Abigail Wunder, inspiringly stated “ I am thankful for G-d and everything He has given me”. All of these answers were so beautiful and heartfelt, and just really show the warm and loving atmosphere of HANC. Speaking of HANC, Ethan and Eli’s answers really resembled being HANCful because they both said they are so grateful for HANC (because HANC makes it happen)!
HANC decided to celebrate Thanksgiving this year by having a stack of papers and pens in the hallways, allowing everyone to write what they are HANCFUL for this Thanksgiving. In no time, the hallways were filled to the brim, with tapings and papers on the walls. Papers from all different people, filled with things written on the blank line. There is so much to be thankful for. I saw every single teacher written at least somewhere on the wall, and something as small as that, seeing their own name up there, could have made their entire day. It was such a wholesome and fun idea, that brought about an atmosphere of warmth with so little effort. Being thankful is a small but great way to show your appreciation, and it spreads so much joy and positivity.
