The Benet Academy Christmas Drive is the most enjoyable and eventful two weeks of the year. The Christmas Drive was two weeks of joyful Christmas spirit and was full of enjoyable activities such as the Ping Pong Tournament, which took place after school and continued during the assembly.

You’ve Been Elfed was another activity during this week. This is a fun game that is similar to tag and a scavenger hunt that allows students a chance to get assigned a person to “Elf anonymously” (tag them) and avoid getting “Elfed” at the same time.

Moreover, there were various opportunities to dress down in festive clothes such as ugly sweaters, Christmas colors, PJ pants, and a slop day at the very end of the week. This Christmas fun concluded with the much-anticipated Christmas Drive Assembly because “It provides the transition from school into the holiday spirit, and all the enjoyable events during the assembly support a good cause and create a good time!” said Harlan Apple.

At the end of the two weeks, the annual Christmas Drive assembly began with an impressive performance by the Benet Academy Varsity Cheer Team. This performance was followed by the Ping Pong tournament final, a close game that ended at 11-13.

Following the tournament, another event began: The Beard Growing Contest. During the past two weeks of Christmas Drive, various students from different grade levels bought beard-growing passes and participated in the competition to grow the longest beard. Blindfolded student judges chose the winner to ensure a fair selection.

Following this was the tug of war was the third contest, which then led into the famous Mavions performance. The Mavions performance is a Christmas-themed dance choreographed by the Avions Dance Team and performed by male students whom their classmates nominate. Ruby Fernandez, an Avion, said that “It is a very funny performance and one of the highlights of the Christmas Drive assembly, and even though it’s time-consuming to train the Mavions, it’s always satisfying to see the results.”

After these two fun-filled performances ended, another more serious competition started: The Teacher vs. Student Basketball game. According to Lily Hallenbeck, a basketball fan and fellow spectator of the fun game, “It was a very close game, and it kept everyone at the edge of their seats because of the close scores and fun basketball shootout during the middle of the game.” Eventually, the teacher team won 5-3 and had everyone cheering.

Nearing the end of the assembly, the whole school was anticipating the big reveal of the amount of money we had raised collectively, which was $86,336.90! However, this number was later changed to $101,336.90 due to an anonymous donor. Emily Coleman, a student government representative, said, “Even though the amount was slightly less than last year, it will still do a lot of good and help benefit lots of lives this season, and hopefully next year, we can beat this year’s number!”