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Shelby and Sawyer, Princeton ES Students: Welcome to Mondays with Maria. No wait. It's Mondays with Mike.

Announcer: Presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez. Three,

Dr. Armbruster: Two. Hi everyone. Today, we are gearing up for Thanksgiving. You may have noticed I'm not Maria Vazquez. Actually, I'm Mike Armbruster, her Deputy Superintendent, and I'll be filling in for her today as she's just a little bit under the weather. This is the wonderful season of giving. Thanks.

Nancy Alvarez is here, along with some of our friends from Princeton Elementary School.

Nancy Alvarez: Hi guys. How is everyone today? Thank you so much for being here with us.

Dr. Armbruster: Alright, let's introduce who we have with us today. Shelby and Sawyer. Give a little wave. They are in the third grade. Sebastian and Landon. They're in the second grade, and we're working on our arts and crafts. While we talk about this wonderful holiday, Nancy, this season is one of my favorites. I'm interested in what everyone is thankful for this year. How about you start as we go around the table? Oh

Nancy Alvarez: My gosh. Okay. I am thankful for so much, and I am also working on the craft, so I'm going to color as well as I answer. So, I am, of course, mostly grateful for my family, for my kids, and our health because at the end of the day, no matter how many problems you have, as long as you're healthy and you're happy, that's really all that matters. And I'm also very grateful for my dog. Do you want to know what his name is? What, what? Charlie Taco. He is the greatest dog in the whole world, and he doesn't go by just Charlie; it's Charlie Taco. You've got to say his full name. So I'm grateful for him too.

Dr. Armbruster: Shelby, how about you? What are you thankful for this year?

Shelby, Princeton ES Student: I'm thankful for that. I have a really good mom. I have a really good family, and I'm also really thankful that everyone just really loves me a lot. 

Nancy Alvarez: Oh, I know your mom, and she is awesome. You do have a great mom. 

Dr. Armbruster: And Sawyer, what about you?

Sawyer, Princeton ES Student: I'm thankful for my family and my friends because they're all really nice to me.

Nancy Alvarez: That's wonderful.

Dr. Armbruster: Sebastian.

Sebastian, Princeton ES Student: I'm thankful for my family and my friends because they helped me out. Helped me out with a lot of stuff.

Dr. Armbruster: Awesome. And Landon, what about you?

Landon, Princeton ES Student: I'm thankful for my family and friends. My family is a very good family. 

Nancy Alvarez: Aw, see, that's wonderful. We all get it, don't we? Family and friends are really all that matter. What about you, Dr. Armbruster?

Dr. Armbruster: Well, same thing. I'm thankful for my family, my friends. I'm thankful for all the people I get to work with every day, and I'm really thankful for all the students we get to serve. They are so amazing and so exciting. Just like the four of these. And the other thing, I'm thankful we have this in common. It's a little different. I'm thankful for tacos. I don't have a dog, but you know what? I'm always thankful for a good taco.

Nancy Alvarez: Oh yeah. You know, it's good. 

Dr. Armbruster: So what about family traditions for Thanksgiving? Does anybody have anything that they do special? What about you, Nancy? 

Nancy Alvarez: Let's see. Okay, so my family is from Cuba, right? So, we kind of mix all the food that you normally have for Thanksgiving with Cuban food. So we have like our Turkey with black beans and rice and yucca and things like that. And guess what my mom does to the Turkey every year? It's a tradition. She wraps it in bacon. Ooh, isn't that weird? Doesn't sound good. You think so? It's a little different, but it does turn out pretty good. That is good. That's one of our traditions. What about you? Do you have a Thanksgiving tradition?

Shelby, Princeton ES Student: I actually am starting one, but then I have one. So, my family tradition is, I normally go to my grandparents' house every single Thanksgiving, but now I'm going to be starting a new tradition, and I'm going to feed the less fortunate.

Nancy Alvarez: Oh my gosh, that is wonderful.

Shelby, Princeton ES Student: We're going to start doing that for Thanksgiving. I feel I'm feeling very happy about it.

Nancy Alvarez: You're going to be a big blessing to a lot of people. That is wonderful to hear. 

Shelby, Princeton ES Student: Thank you.

Nancy Alvarez: What about you?

Sawyer, Princeton ES Student: In my family for our tradition is that we go to one of my family members' houses and we eat a lot of Turkey, and then we go on a big family walk.

Nancy Alvarez: Nice, nice. All right. We'll go down the row with the traditions. Do you have a family tradition you want to share? 

Sebastian, Princeton ES Student: Yeah, my dad fries a Turkey with my uncle. Yes. And my family eats it, but I don't really like Turkey.

Nancy Alvarez: Well, yeah, that's okay. You could have chicken. 

Sebastian, Princeton ES Student: I mostly, I mostly like chicken nuggets.

Nancy Alvarez: Okay. Chicken nuggets for Thanksgiving are fine. Yeah, that's good. 

Landon, Princeton ES Student: And for my family tradition, I get together with my family, and I used to go to my friend's house and my Poppi's house and do and do Thanksgiving there. But now I don't do it anymore. I just get together at my house and do Thanksgiving there.

Nancy Alvarez: As long as we're together. Right. Doesn't matter where, what about you, Dr. Armbruster?

Dr. Armbruster: Well, I don't know if it's a tradition everybody else does, but I generally eat and fall asleep. So, they may be up and doing stuff, but I'm sleeping, and so for me, that's my tradition. I love Thanksgiving. It's the one day of rest and I really actually take to full advantage.

Nancy Alvarez: I think that's a tradition we all have in common.

Dr. Armbruster: So, we're sitting here right now, we're doing these fun arts and crafts projects. Are there any fun projects in school right now that y'all are doing, or anything y‘all are doing to prepare for the holiday? 

Shelby, Princeton ES Student: I'm learning, I'm doing like a new Thanksgiving and like Turkey project and an art class.

Dr. Armbruster: Oh, very cool.

Sawyer, Princeton ES Student: I'm doing like a slideshow on Maryland. What they do for Christmas. Because I have family from Maryland.

Nancy Alvarez: Okay. Oh, that's cool. It's fun to learn how they do things in other places. That's interesting.

Dr. Armbruster: How about y’all?

Landon, Princeton ES Student: I have a family tradition. I do a pumpkin patch with my art teacher, Ms. Alberson.

Dr. Armbruster: You made a mitten?

Sebastian, Princeton ES Student: Oh yeah.

Dr. Armbruster: What did you do on the mitten?

Sebastian, Princeton ES Student: We were designing them.

Nancy Alvarez: Oh, that's nice.

Landon, Princeton ES Student: And like it, and we did a snowflake.

Dr. Armbruster: Oh, okay. Yeah, I gotcha, I gotcha.

Nancy Alvarez: Oh, they're paper mittens? Okay. Yeah, I'll still wear them, though. Yeah, that sounds nice. 

Dr. Armbruster: When you're walking your dog.

Nancy Alvarez: Why not when I'm walking, Charlie Taco? Yeah. I'll wear them paper mittens. Yeah. 

Dr. Armbruster: Well, this has been funny. Y’all’s pictures are looking really, really good.

Nancy Alvarez: Look how great these are here. Let's show them. We're not done yet, but so far, look how great these look. These are very good. Very nice.

Dr. Armbruster: They're very good. Well, this has been so much fun. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I want to thank you all for being here.

Nancy Alvarez: Oh, thank you for having us. Right, guys? Say happy Thanksgiving, everybody. 

Everyone: Happy Thanksgiving!

Shelby, Princeton ES Student: Thank you for having us. 

Nancy Alvarez: Oh, it's lovely to have you. It was great. 

Dr. Armbruster: Really is, really is. Before we go, I want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. This year, our angel tree project is back, and we would love for anyone who is able to give to consider our angel tree, which provides an unused gift for a student who is in need. If you're able, we have a text-to-give option, just text OCPSAngel to 41444. We hope you'll consider helping us provide for our students. Thank you so much for all that you do for Orange County Public Schools. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. We will have more on our podcast. Just go to wherever you get your podcast and search for Mondays with Maria. Have a great week. 

Nancy Alvarez: Have a great week.

Everyone: Oh, oh, fall is in the air. Wow.

Dr. Armbruster: Oh, look at that. Wow.

Nancy Alvarez: Such a leaf. Isn't that beautiful?

Dr. Armbruster: Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. That's some good coffee right there.

Landon and Sebastian, Princeton ES Students: But wait, here's a slice of positivity. 

<Now playing a “A Bright Spot of Positivity” story with host, Bri MacNaught.>

Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic. Listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at AdditionFi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.OCPS.net. I'm your announcer. Emily Hannon, a student at Audubon Park School. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.