‘Tis the season to be jolly as one of the best holidays creeps closer. Christmas is upon us, and that can only mean one thing; the Benet Academy Christmas Drive is in full swing. Is it the best time of year? Most definitely. Students get to enjoy several fun activities throughout the course of two weeks, most of which involve eating. However, though each year has brought new ideas for fun filled festivities, there are still our favorites that reappear every time the Christmas Drive rolls around. Coming in as the top four Christmas Drive traditions are the Penny Wars, Mavions and the sale of everyone’s favorite breakfast meat, bacon.
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What would have to top as number one of three Christmas Drive traditions is the Penny War. It is a battle of the grades as the Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors fight to obtain the most pennies over the course of a week. The rules are as simply as follows: silver coinage deducts from a class’s overall score, and pennies add to the overall score. The class with the most pennies is the winner. Said winner gets a free slop day, the runner up has to pay a dollar for a spirit day, the second runner up has to pay two dollars for a spirit day, and the grade that came in last place had to attend school in his or her uniform. Let’s just say it was easy to spot the Juniors.
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Coming in second on our list is the Mavions. During the first week of the drive, the Benet Avions hold a bidding where fellow students can place money to see a handful of boys from their grade dance at the pep rally. These select few have to perform their dance with the Avions in front of the entire school. Needless to say, hilarity ensues.
​Finally, ranking third is the sale of bacon. Though it might seem strange that selling bacon could be a tradition, the students and faculty at Benet seem to make it a priority to sell as much bacon as possible. No matter where you turn, the smell of the greasy breakfast food seems to follow wherever you go. I am not certain that any other school has as much of an obsession with bacon as Benet Academy has. Although it is fun to joke about, the bacon sells well, and the students get to enjoy a crispy breakfast for only a dollar a piece.
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Though only three are listed, Benet still has many other activities that could be considered traditions, not to mention all the new ones that have sprung up over the many Christmas Drives. No matter how many festivities we might come up with, they all will have the same goal in mind: raise money for charity. Through two weeks of eating, wearing onesies, taping students to each other for full class periods, and whatever else the brilliant minds of Benet can come up with, the Christmas Drive itself is an amazing gift that each person can participate in. So while the two weeks are filled with an excited buzz, just remember the reason for the Drive and be proud that no other school does anything remotely close to what we do for those in our community.
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