A Weeklong Break for Thanksgiving

For the first time in two years, Jordan High School students will enjoy a full week off for Thanksgiving, generating excitement across campus. In past years, students were released early Tuesday and returned the following Monday, but this year, a teacher workday on Monday gives students the entire week off.

“I really like it because it gives me time to soak up family time or to travel, and also to reset,” Ella Stankavage, a sophomore, remarked on the longer Thanksgiving break. Students aren’t the only ones who are expressing excitement about the break. Mrs. Holmes, a Spanish teacher at Jordan, shared that, “A longer Thanksgiving break is much needed. Everyone is very tired and needs rest. It also gives people more time to spend with their loved ones and makes it easier to travel if you need to.”

Some students, however, are taking full advantage of the week off to spend more time with family or to travel. Shia Carter, a junior, stated, “I’m excited because I get to spend more time with my mom,” after sharing that she would be traveling to Richmond to see her mom. Not all students are going out of state to see family; some of them are having family come to them. “My grandma is coming to visit from Pennsylvania, and my friend is coming from Indiana. Now it’s not as stressful and their trip will be more worthwhile because they will see me for longer,” Stankavage explained. Mrs. Holmes wasn’t the only teacher without any plans for the time off, but this doesn’t mean those without plans aren’t also excited. Ms. Rubenstein said, “I just noticed that we had a longer break and I was ecstatic! It means I have more time to grade papers!”

However, while students and teachers alike are looking forward to more time off, they also have varying opinions about the calendar. The calendar never looks the same two years in a row, partly due to holidays falling on different days and time off has to be distributed differently. Most students and teachers aren’t too bothered by this fact, and while Mrs. Holmes is among these people, she did say she “[wished] we had a fall break or longer Thanksgiving break consistently though,” sharing that, “We could all use more breaks during the school year to avoid burnout.” 

Some students, however, expressed negative feelings about the calendar never looking the same. Carter explained that, “It’s kind of annoying because it’s hard to plan for. Especially for kids with divorced parents, because visitation revolves around the schedule. Some people have certain circumstances that are hard to manage with a constantly changing schedule.”             

(We reached out to the DPS staff in charge of scheduling regarding why this is the case; however, we received no response.)