On Wednesday, November 25, the final bell rang earlier than usual for the half day ending at 11:40 a.m. This ring signaled cheers among students and faculty alike — Thanksgiving break has arrived.

Falling on a Thursday every year, Thanksgiving gifts Staples students with a four day weekend filled with pumpkin pie, gravy and several food comas.

Thanksgiving break is jam packed with fun local events whether you choose to head into New York City for the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, partake in the Turkey Trot run located in Southport, Connecticut or support the Staples football team to beat the Greenwich Cardinals at 10 a.m Thursday morning.

“Every year my family watches the football game, but this year I’m playing in it,” Elliott Poulley ’17 said. Staples and Greenwich have been switching off the location for their annual rivalry football game that’s been around since 2005. This year, Staples Stadium hosted hundreds of Superfans cheering on the Wreckers.

Besides watching football, many Staples students enjoy other types of traditions on Thanksgiving. “I like to scroll through my Instagram feed and see all of the typical ‘I’m thankful for’ posts,” Nick Rossi ’19 said.

Forty degree weather isn’t the only way to enjoy a great Thanksgiving, though. “We have had some really cool but unconventional Thanksgivings in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica,” Jakob Kaplan ’16 said of his family’s holiday traditions.

After a day of football and parade watching, most Staples students will be sitting down to a massive feast of Thanksgiving staples.

“It’s always funny because my dad always tries to carve the turkey and my great uncle always has to take over for him,” Lauren Chasnow ’17 said.

Although only four days long, Thanksgiving break is packed with opportunities for the Staples community to run a 5k, watch great football, travel the world and eat enough turkey to fall asleep on the couch.