The auditorium was filled with students on the morning of Monday, Nov. 21, and they were eager to find out what this year’s Thanksgiving assembly had in store.

As the assembly began, Student Activities Coordinator Craig Alexander read off the top twelve candidates for Snoball King: Ryan Marmaros, Aaron Siegel, Asaf Roth, Matthew Aubourg, Aden Stern, Andrew Feldman, Sanford Hong, Jack Spero, Mukul Govande, Sam Connor, Cameron Haynesworth, David Somogyi and Josh Bialosky.

Next were the speeches giving thanks. This year’s speakers included seniors Lauren Miller, Emily Einhorn, Andrew Feldman and social studies teacher Dominic Velotta.

Miller and Einhorn addressed the opportunities offered by the Council for Exceptional Children. Miller hopes the club will help to combat prejudices against people with special needs.

“We are lucky that this club has allowed us to form a greater understanding about disabilities and the people affected by them,” Einhorn said. “We are thankful to have learned that putting in a little time and effort and dropping any preconceived notions about special needs people can be so easy and rewarding.”

“Because of the Council for Exceptional Children, Emily and I have had the opportunity to meet, work with, and befriend many special needs students whom we probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to know without this club,” she added.

Feldman incorporated an acrostic poem into his thanksgiving speech, showing what he was grateful for in a light-hearted manner. Laughter erupted as Feldman read his poem.

“T is for tense, like when Mr. Patti walks into class with a detention slip,” Feldman said. “H is for hope constantly, like the second chances we get through continuous improvement.”

Velotta also played to the crowd with a mirthful, self-deprecating speech about himself.

“While I am thankful for all of the usual stuff, like family, health, and a great place to work, I am also thankful for the fact that I can still grow hair on my face even though I am losing it on top of my head,” Velotta said. “ I am also thankful for being tall enough to ride on all of the roller coasters at Cedar Point.”

The assembly concluded with a french horn performance by freshman Kanrry Kang and freshman Channah Creve, who sang Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America.”

Later that day, Seniors voted to narrow the top twelve candidates to a top six:  Matthew Aubourg, Andrew Feldman, Mukul Govande, Cameron Haynesworth, Sanford Hong and Jack Spero.

Top six candidates will be narrowed to three next week and the Snoball King will be selected in January.

Photos by Livia Eppell

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