Pax Celebrates Thanksgiving

By. Hailie Mundey and Teagan Young

Thanksgiving is a day where people gather with their loved ones to celebrate being thankful. While everyone is celebrating the same thing, being thankful, people have different ways of celebrating. Some people travel; some stay home. Some eat turkey and stuffing, some eat pizza. Some do the same traditions every year; some switch it up. There are a million different ways to celebrate this day. Here is how the students and staff at Patuxent celebrate! 

One of the common ways to celebrate from what we heard around Patuxent was the traditional Thanksgiving. This includes original English foods, such as turkey, mash potatoes, stuffing, pie, and so many other delicious foods. Some people got creative with the food though. Mrs. Baney has a gourmet Thanksgiving. “My sister likes to spice it up with everything being homemade. Her homemade cinnamon ice cream goes great with her homemade pie!” 

Another thing we commonly heard was that people traveled. Some people traveled to celebrate with celebrate with family. Mrs. Crowley normally travels for Thanksgiving. “I travel to Pennsylvania and have one big meal with my side of the family and another with my husband's side. Other people at Patuxent traveled for more of a vacation. Mrs. Price in the main office takes turns between traveling to see family and traveling for a vacation. “We either travel to family in Ohio or Georgia or on a good year we go on vacation. We like to go to Jekyll Island where we go on carriage rides and eat seafood.” 

The lights when you first arrive at Jekyll Island.

While a lot of people travel, some people stay home. Riley Hall is having a cozy Thanksgiving at her house. “My dad is working this Thanksgiving so my mom, brother, and me are going to order pizza and binge watch Christmas movies.”  

A lot of families have special traditions that they do on Thanksgiving. Hailey Shipman and Will Coley both always watch football on Thanksgiving. Along with this, Hailey Shipman and Alex have a kids table and an adults table at their meal. Hailey is finally old enough to make the adults’ table cut off, but Alex Townsend hasn’t quite made it yet. Gracelynn Hutson plays classic front lawn football. Her family also does the wishbone. Brock Shipman’s family writes things they want to let go of on plates. Then they break the plates. This is to shift your mindset and get rid of negative emotions. Sicily Clements plays left right center, a gambling game, with her mom’s family. Jamie Dean also plays gambling games with her family. 

Gracelynn Hutson's mom’s aesthetic Thanksgiving pie.  

A lot of people at PAX have unique ways to celebrate. Mrs. Dean goes to work, but on the way home, her and her husband stop to get turkey bowls from Wawa. It may not be a big celebration, but it is special to each and their own. Another unique celebration is from Timmy Stout. He goes to New York and snowboards every year. That’s something you don’t hear much about! A lovely celebration by Mrs. Hartsig is that on the day of Thanksgiving or the day after, her family hikes. That is such a fun bonding experience.  

There are so many holidays, so much food, and lots of love, but for Mrs. Icaza, Thanksgiving is her favorite. Why? “It has all the joy that Christmas has but without the stress of presents.” And she is right! All the family, food, games, and love. But you don’t have to worry about your pockets. 

One person who plays a huge role in our school is Mr. Conlon, also known as “Dofo” to the football team. Mr. Conlon has been involved in Patuxent since he attended Patuxent when it first opened. His favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving is coming to Patuxent High school’s thanksgiving football practice “because that means they made it far enough in the playoffs.” During this practice all former players are invited to attend. Even players from 20 years ago will come. This is a big practice for them and really reminds them to be thankful. In addition, Thanksgiving is also Mr. Conlon’s favorite meal of the year!  

Each way to celebrate Thanksgiving is unique to each person. While some people have similar things they do, every single person still celebrates differently. Being able to see the traditions—new or old—food, and the company that PAX staff and students celebrate is very cool. The students and Staff and PAX have a good time ahead of them. Regardless of how you celebrate, we hope you have a great fall break and happy thanksgiving!