“I am thankful for my loving family and friends, good health, my school, Canyon Charter and all the incredible teachers I’ve had there, good books like ‘The Mysterious Benedict Society’ and ‘The School for Good and Evil.’ I am also thankful for my favorite activities: art, theater, singing, playing piano and ukulele, ballet, yoga, learning Hebrew, swimming, photography, designing and sewing clothes, and creative writing. Finally, I am grateful for maple pecan ice cream, hugs, jewelry, sushi, sleepaway camp, adorable animals, the beach, baking desserts, holidays like Halloween and Hanukkah, and nature walks.”
—Audrey Yael Smith
“I am thankful for the things that I sometimes take for granted. First off, I am grateful for the beautiful sunrise that wakes me up every morning and the lovely scenery it gives me from my bedroom window. I am thankful that I am in good health because others are not as fortunate as I am. I am also grateful for a loving group of friends, who I can talk to, have fun with and share some laughs with.
And I am grateful for my family. My dad, who always finds time to spend with me, even though he works long hours. My mom, who drives me around to all my after school activities. My sister, who helps me when I have a hard time with math homework. I am also thankful for my God who blessed me with all these.”
—Hanna Shin
“I am thankful for my family. My family is very supportive. My family is always there when I need them. As well as being supportive, my family is also kind, thoughtful and loving. I love my family more than words can describe. My family will defend me and support me no matter what. I love when we hang out together. My favorite thing to do with my family is go to the beach. I also like when we have family movie night. My family works hard to protect me and give me happiness. I love and thank my family for all they do for me.”
—Kayla Ring
“I have a lot to be thankful for. Where I live was mostly unaffected by the fire. With three cats in the house, I was very worried about the nearness of the blaze and the thick clouds of smoke we could see. My cats are always looking for danger, you know. I’m also thankful that I am able to attend Seven Arrows Elementary School which never had to close for the bad air quality, unfortunately, so we didn’t get a day off. (Which I would have loved to write about.)
I am thankful for being able to write this Thanksgiving post-blurb-essay thing in the Pali-Post. We said goodbye to my grandmother this year. She and I were very close. She always loved listening to my stories and encouraged me to be a writer. And because of that and other things, I love writing, and also playing piano and lying on the couch with my three cats and a lot of random cups. Anyway, I will have to close my writing now, because of word limits—which I am NOT thankful for!”
—Leo Pesce
“I am thankful for my safety. I am glad to be safe while there are three fires. I am grateful that I am not a victim of the many shootings. But I am the most thankful that I have people to protect me. I am so thankful to have fire fighters taking out the fires, police dealing with unsafe people and paramedics who go around and help people who are injured or sick. I am also thankful for doctors who save peoples’ lives and help heal people. Particularly this season I am thankful for safety because just about a month ago I had a fall, the paramedics came and helped me recover, they brought me to the hospital and made sure I was OK.”
—Misha Keyvanfar
“This is Parker Keston, junior reporter, and here with me for this article is our junior-junior reporter, my sister, Riley Keston. The two of us are thankful for the cutest, fluffiest, craziest puppy we know: Tiki, our 9-month-old rescue mutt.
Tiki is a mix of lab, Australian shepherd, cattle dog, chow chow, and a little Great Dane. I guess that’s why he has such an enormous tail … but thank goodness he isn’t the size of a horse. And guess what? He talks. Boy, are we thankful for that. He talks to the coyotes and tells them to stay away from our family. He talks to the Amazon delivery people, and tells them to leave the package on the doorstep. He even talks to us late at night—and even though it comes out as ‘RY RUV ROO,’ it sounds like I love you to us.
It is not all roses though. He does chew on the wall and on the stairs, which we don’t totally understand. And we aren’t even going to mention the poops. It doesn’t matter though—we love our Tiki and can’t wait to grow up loving him. We are thankful our parents let us get our own dog in 2018.
Gobble, gobble!”
—Parker Keston
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