Thanksgiving is known to Americans as a time to be thankful for what you have, to appreciate your family and friends, and of course, to eat of a lot of good food. Every year, we see the frantic shoppers buying groceries for the family members that will come to their houses for a thanksgiving feast. How do students at Ames High choose to celebrate this iconic holiday? Junior Hannah Bonestroo is one of those who celebrates a more traditional American Thanksgiving. “My [whole] family goes to my grandparents’ house, and we eat a lot of food. We always have turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, corn, and baked beans, and for desert, we have the traditional pumpkin pie and pecan pie,” Bonestroo said. “We also like to play card games, like ‘Sevens’.” However, what exactly makes a Thanksgiving celebration? With such a diverse population at Ames High, many multi-cultural variations exist to this classic American holiday. If you’re looking to spice up your holiday this year, add a little variety, or maybe find a whole new way to celebrate Thanksgiving, this is your perfect Thanksgiving idea generator. You may be able to take some completely new ideas to create your own unique holiday traditions. Junior Ann Ku has a slightly different take on Thanksgiving. “We have a fairly traditional Thanksgiving, but we substitute Chinese food for the traditional American fare,” Ku said. “We just have a special dinner that we don’t always eat normally. We still celebrate the meaning behind it and everything, just with food that is ‘comfort food’ for us.” Junior Itzel Padron had a completely different idea of what Thanksgiving is about. “We basically just celebrate Thanksgiving because of Black Friday shopping,” Padron said, laughing. “In Texas, my family would all come over to do shopping together, so we thought, hey, why not have some good food as well?” Even with the many different cultures present at Ames High, one can see that the general theme for Thanksgiving, is, after all, a time to be thankful with family and friends. In conclusion, AP US History teacher Tim Mooney has some advice for all: “Thanksgiving? You should be grateful for any time you get two days off of school.”