Amir is studious and inquisitive. His dream is to one day be a newspaper reporter. He works hard writing articles and conducting interviews for TLX News.
Emilio is an adventurer. He loves to travel with his parents and his older brother, Ernesto. He is also interested in history and has visited many historic sites.
Jill is running for class president at her school. She is a leader in her class and encourages good citizenship. Each month she volunteers at her town’s local food pantry.
Shelby loves going to her local recreation center to skateboard and take art classes. She is very involved in her community and helps with recycling and conservation.
Camille has French heritage. She uses her laptop to email her friends and organizing her MP3 collection. Her dad is a music teacher and someday she might like to be one, too.
Ernesto loves sports, and his favorite sport is soccer. He is also very interested in photography and one day hopes to be a professional photographer.
Ruby cares about environmental issues. She likes to visit state and national parks. Someday, she hopes to be an architect and design skyscrapers that are Earth friendly.
Aiden lives on a big cattle farm in Texas. He likes to grow vegetables in his own garden and uses them to help his family make fajitas. Cooking is his favorite hobby.
Adam lives with his grandparents near the beach. They are Chinese Americans. He likes to help his grandfather paint pictures of the ocean.
Lilly wants to be a pilot. One day she would even like to fly in the space shuttle! For now, she'll just use her telescope to visit outer space.
Reema and her family are from India. She likes animals and hopes someday to be a vet. She is practicing by taking care of her pet turtle, George.
Sam likes to read. He loves going to the library and reading books about dinosaurs. Sam is hearing impaired. His family is learning American Sign Language.

Amir is studious and inquisitive. His dream is to one day be a newspaper reporter. He works hard writing articles and conducting interviews for TLX News.

Tradition:: The practice of passing down customs, beliefs, or other knowledge from parents to children.
Scarce:: When there is not enough of something.
Pardon:: To free from punishment.
Economy:: The way we use money, goods and services, and resources.
Volunteer:: A person who offers time, goods, or services to others without asking for anything in return.

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How do people celebrate?

Setting a Turkey Free for Thanksgiving

Does your family have any Thanksgiving traditions? Many families celebrate this holiday with a large meal that includes roasted turkey. The President of the United States and his family celebrate the holiday with turkey, too. But the celebration at the White House is a little different from other celebrations.

Each year the President receives a turkey from a farmer who raises turkeys. Instead of eating the turkey, the President sets it free. This tradition is a fun way the President celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday.

President Truman was the first President to be gifted a turkey for Thanksgiving.

Turkey producers have donated turkeys to the White House each Thanksgiving since 1947. Presidents and their families usually would eat these turkeys on Thanksgiving. This changed in 1989. That year President George H. W. Bush said the turkey â€œwould not end up on anyoneâ€™s dinner table, not this guy. Heâ€™s granted a presidential pardon as of right now.â€ A pardon is freedom from punishment. When the President pardons those in jail or prison, they are set free. When the turkey gets a pardon, it means the President wonâ€™t eat it!

President Kennedy was gifted this turkey in 1963. The sign around its neck says "Good Eating, Mr. President!"

President Kennedy was gifted this turkey in 1963. The sign around the turkey's neck says "Good Eating, Mr. President!"

Like many traditions, the turkey pardon has gotten bigger over the years. In 1990 the pardoned turkey was sent to a farm park in northern Virginia. Today, the turkey spends the night before the pardon feasting on corn and soybeans in a Washington, D.C. hotel. And since 2005, the pardoned turkey is the Grand Marshal in the Disney Thanksgiving Day parade! The lucky turkey then gets to spend the rest of its life as part of the Disney Animal Collection in Orlando, Florida.

The tradition of pardoning a turkey continues today.

This year will be the twentieth year of the turkey pardoning tradition. It will also be the first year President Obama gets to pardon a Thanksgiving turkey. Itâ€™s not a very serious tradition, but it is cheerful. And that spirit of joy and fun is what most holiday celebrations are all about!

TLX News Journal Activity:

As far as traditions go, pardoning the turkey is a new tradition. Write about your familyâ€™s Thanksgiving or holiday traditions in your journal.

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