The Sage Informer

For most people, the holiday season starts in November. You begin to see advertisements for Thanksgiving dinner, there are Christmas decorations everywhere, or if you live in Monticello, you see the festive wreaths that line the in-town streets. 

All of these qualities launch the holiday season, but for students, especially high school students, an exciting time out of these few months is Thanksgiving break. Leading up to the short holiday, teachers are trying to wrap up their lessons, Christmas events are being planned, and it’s all together a very busy time. 

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is Monticello High School’s first day of break. However, is this short period of time outside of school even deserving of the title “break”? Chase Yohnka, a senior at MHS, elaborated on that question. “I would call it an extended weekend. There really isn’t enough time for relaxing or decompressing. The few days we have off are full of visiting with family and homework.” 

 During the time that the high school students have off, most of them will have homework, cleaning the house and cooking preparation, holiday shopping with their families, and the emotional exhaustion from celebrating with their families all weekend. Within all of all of that, where is the break?

A large majority of students at MHS are highly involved in extracurriculars and heavily invested in their grades. When they come back to school after Thanksgiving “break”, they immediately have to get back on the grind. As soon as December 1st hits, it’s Christmas time with many activities, and end of semester finals are just around the corner. All of that equals a lot of work, so wouldn’t it be nice if the school gifted its students with an extra day off to recover after the holiday?

“The holidays are fun, but family can be exhausting sometimes! It’d be nice if we could have the following Monday after Thanksgiving off. That way we could recharge and come back to school a little less tired” stated Payton Fuller, a junior at MHS. She said it well. Everyone loves fun times with family, but with all of the excitement, it can start weighing on students throughout the season.

It’s been agreed upon by many of the students, and probably the faculty as well, that during this very fast paced time, everyone could use a dedicated self-care day in their Thanksgiving break.

Raegan Yeager, Staff Writer
yeara22@sages.us