Menands School students are thankful for food, family, health and shelter this holiday season.
With the hours winding down for the three-day Thanksgiving recess, students were asked to share what they are thankful for this holiday.
“I am thankful for people being kind and my friends,” said Zabi Alali, a kindergarten student.
Wallace Lawrence, a fourth-grade student, said he was thankful for “being 
able to spend time with my family” during Thanksgiving break.
Classmate Rayan Ahmed is seemingly thankful for what he is going to do with the time away from school.
“I am thankful for my parents—and video games,” he said.
Seventh grade student Tyler Rodriguez is grateful for “my friends, my family and Thanksgiving.”
But second grade student Amaya Harris is already thinking beyond Thanksgiving.
“I am thankful for Christmas because Santa is going to bring me presents,” she said.
Several students are giving thanks for their school and teachers.
“I am thankful for my family and my friends and the opportunities I get to have going to a foo school and planning to be what I want to be [animator],” sixth grader Astrid McNanmara said.
“I am thankful for this school, for my teachers and I am thankful for my grades,” said eighth grader Jey Karthik.
Perhaps most thankful was a third grade student who last year did battle with cancer.
Gage Smith—who recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the removal of a cancerous tumor—said he is “thankful for my health.”
