Good food, good heart, amazing family and friends, a nice time: these words sum up the annual Giving of Thanks at Eagle Academy Bronx. At Eagle, we celebrate the day before Thanksgiving with large trays of food, loud music, desserts, and just having fun with basketball games, karaoke, chess, and playing games on Xbox. Some people wonder, why do we feast on Thanksgiving? Well back in the day, Native Americans feasted on freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, and fish like cod and bass. Native Americans also harvested flint, a native variety of corn, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge. So this is the reason we eat big meals on Thanksgiving and this is why cornbread is one of the most common thing people need for a Thanksgiving meal.

I decided to talk to some members of the Eagle community to see what they thought about Giving of Thanks this year and their own Thanksgiving traditions. Check out their interviews below, and make sure to watch the News 12 TV clip of Chancellor and Eagle Founder David Banks’ visit. 

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Nasir Whitfield (Class of 2024): My favorite Thanksgiving meal is Mac and Cheese because it’s good and it’s common in my family. We always have it for Thanksgiving.

Ms. Elena: My favorite Thanksgiving food is pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie … actually all the pies.

Nazaiah Jones (Class of 2024): My favorite Thanksgiving dish is barbecue chicken.

Shawn Morris (Class of 2024): Mine is the macaroni and …. can I get some yams!

Ms. Ortiz: Potato Salad 100%

Keion Decosta (Class of 2027): Baked Ziti!

What was your favorite part of this years Giving of Thanks?

Ms. Elena: My favorite part was the DJ and seeing the kids enjoy themselves.

Trystan Hill (Class of 2028): The unlimited soda. I had like 25 cups.

Kimoni Giles (Class of 2025): Being able to get together with the alumni and see them again.

Ms. Knight: Unity, eating, and laughing together.

Kevin Guzman (Class of 2024): Definitely the food. Especially the cheesecake.

Ms. Ortiz: The 10th graders singing songs from One Direction. Priceless!

What is one Thanksgiving tradition you do with your family? 

Nazaiah Jones (Class of 2024): Me, my pops and my brother watch the Thanksgiving day Football game.

Trystan Hill (Class of 2028): Something we do is cook. A lot. My Grandma cooks baked mac and cheese, ham, turkey wings, potato salad, yams. Then we sit down and eat together at the table.

Kimoni Giles (Class of 2025): We play a very competitive Uno game.

Shawn Morris (Class of 2024): We eat like a family, no phones, no nothing. No distractions.

Kevin Guzman (Class of 2024): We watch the Thanksgiving parade. Sometimes we go in person, sometimes we watch on TV.

Keion Decosta (Class of 2027): We all get together at my house. It’s a big party.