With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the ODA students and faculty are looking forward to a well-deserved time off with friends and family.  Before depart for our break, however, the ODA students and faculty all come together to participate in Turkey Bowl.

Turkey Bowl is and ODA tradition that is anticipated by both students and faculty ever year. Each year, right before Thanksgiving break, the advisee groups from each grade get together for an annual flag football tournament, and compete with the other advisee groups in their grade for the championship.

Turkey Bowl becomes a competitive day for many of the students here at ODA. “The competitiveness is to that of a fight to the last cookie,” says current Junior, Emma Holland. “Everybody wants to win the final prize and to bring their advisory to victory.” Many of the advisee groups even practice football plays before hand during their advisee meetings. However, even though many students are ambitious to win, the main point of the day is to have fun and bond with your peers.

One custom that goes along with Turkey Bowl is the creation of the advisee T-shirts. Each advisee group comes up with a team name, and all of the kids chip in to buy shirts to represent themselves at Turkey Bowl. “It’s interesting to see how creative some advisories can be with their names” says a current junior. “The whole day is a good bonding experience and a way to get to know your fellow advisees better.”

If you have never experienced the excitement of Turkey Bowl before, start this year! It’s a great way to kick off your Thanksgiving break!