Last Thanksgiving, PV students started off the break with Wednesday (a minimum day) and then Thursday, Friday, plus the weekend off. 

This Thanksgiving, students got to enjoy a longer vacation by having a whole week off. 

The longer break allowed students to spend more quality time with their families, get more homework done, if any, and catch up on more sleep. 

Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family. It is a time to decompress from the beginning of school and to have a short break till Christmas break comes. 

Freshman Toni Hagen enjoyed the longer break very much. 

“I caught up on more sleep and surprisingly I did not have more homework; it was normal,” he said.  

Hagen agrees that the amount of break time should stay the same for more years to come, because it’s more enjoyable and he was able to spend more time with family. 

“I went to downtown Los Angeles for a couple days and still had time in to complete the rest of my homework without stress,” Hagen said. 

 Senior Katlyn Karambelas drove up to Santa Cruz to visit her family for the holidays. 

“I would recommend the same amount of break time for next Thanksgiving.I unfortunately still had hours of homework, which cut into the time for visiting with family,” Karambelas said.  

Due to being a senior, the amount of homework made her spend less time with her family and more time with homework. 

“Last Thanksgiving was better for me because I had no homework over the break,” she said. 

However, she was still pleased with the longer amount of break time from school. 

Another freshman, Jamie Robertson, spent this Thanksgiving by traveling to Africa and helping the less fortunate, which really made a difference. 

Robertson’s grandparents live in Africa. All his mom’s side of the family were born there, so they all try to visit his grandparents as often as they can. This is Robertson’s fourth time traveling up there. 

They were there for for about eight days.  Robertson and his family planned the trip a few months ago. 

“We spent a few days with my grandparents and then went on safari in a different part of Kenya (East Africa) and spent a few days there.” 

Robertson very much enjoyed his trip. 

“The most important part of the trip for me was going to the villages and interacting with the families and kids and trying to learn and understand the different culture,” he said 

Giving thanks helps us appreciate, recognize, and be grateful for all we have.