Sawyer: Pro-Giveback
I have been at Paideia since the first grade, and, like most people I talk to that went to Paideia for elementary school, the Feast was always one of my favorite traditions. When they first took it away, I was so upset because I couldn’t imagine the day before Thanksgiving break without it. However, I have started to realize that the Great Giveback is a great alternative, and I prefer it to the Feast.
Some assignments for the Giveback are very fun and build community, such as painting or tidying up a common room. There are, however, tasks that require more effort and are not as fun. I would argue that these also provide important experiences. I know many advisories last year had terrible experiences with their tasks, but it brought them all so much closer to their advisories and makes for a pretty funny story.
I love my advisory and have been looking forward to this day. While we were not assigned our first choice, I had a great time during the Giveback this year. We were assigned to clean out the High School Commons, which I really enjoyed. It only took us an hour, and we spent the rest of the day playing games and bonding as an advisory. I also appreciate that after a long day of work, you end up having a potluck in your advisory. I think this is a more tight-knit version of the elementary school Feast. Instead of struggling with the inevitable fate that they will run out of mac and cheese, you just trust in everyone to bring enough for a much smaller group. The Feast also creates much more waste than a smaller advisory potluck. Volunteering, eating and ending the day by watching the Talent Show provide a great day, perfectly preparing you for Thanksgiving Break.
Stella: Pro-Feast
I have also been at Paideia since the first grade. Every year when Thanksgiving break rolled around, the Feast was the main thing we were excited for. Each student got to prepare something that they could contribute to the Feast, bringing a little piece of their family’s tradition to share with the school.
Even throughout middle school, the Feast was a time for the whole school to come together. Paideia is supposed to be a very tight-knit community, but without the Feast we only gather as a whole school once throughout the year: on Field Day. Thanksgiving is a time to come together and give thanks for our community, and when we are secluded into our advisory groups that we already spend quite a bit of time with, we are unable to connect with the whole school community. This is nothing against my amazing advisory (shout out Cullen!).
One common argument against the Feast is that it generates too much waste for a school that prides itself on sustainability. However, this is not true. At the most recent, but hopefully not last Feast, the vast majority of the Feast was sustainable. Students were asked to bring food in either compostable or recyclable containers or in tupperware they could take home, and at the end of the Feast of around 1,000 people, the only waste generated was little Thanksgiving cupcake toppers.
Even if the Feast can not be brought back for the whole school, I think that having a high school feast instead of spending all day in small groups would create a much more community-oriented Thanksgiving celebration.