Turkey Bowl returned to Strath Haven, bringing back a tradition of friendly competition and school pride.
In an afternoon assembly-amended schedule on Tuesday, November 26, students participated in the revived ‘Turkey Bowl’ tradition in the Strath Haven High School Auditorium.
Turkey Bowl is a school-wide gathering of students and teachers where grade levels compete against each other in a gridiron-style touch football game in the gymnasium. At the end of the student competitions, there is a final round between students and teachers.
“It’s just a fun way for everyone to get into the gym, get excited before Thanksgiving break, and to get in the Thanksgiving spirit,” senior and student council co-vice president Madison Benzing said.
The event was organized by the student council and class cabinets alongside the high school administration. To engage the student body, the student council organized a ‘Mini Spirit Week.’ On Monday, students were encouraged to wear denim, and on Tuesday, they were asked to wear clothing in specific colors based on their grade level, all leading up to the main event.
“Our role is publicizing the event to the students, making students sign up, and getting everyone excited,” Benzing said.
The Turkey Bowl returned to Haven for the first time since the 2019-2020 school year. That year, the ‘Haven Bowl’ was delayed from November 2019 until late January 2020 due to a pertussis outbreak, also known as whooping cough, that circulated throughout the school district.
Because of COVID-19, the tradition was shuttered completely, and it remained unclear whether it would return in later school years. In 2024, discussions of reviving the tradition spread throughout the administration and to the student council.
“We talked to the kids, and we’d like to do it,” assistant principal Tom McLaughlin said. “It’s a fun tradition, and now that we’re back full time, the student council brought it up, and we sai,d ‘Yeah, we would love to get it going again.’”
“It was just a really exciting thing for everyone, kind of like the Chris King games,” senior and student council co-vice president Josie Tolson said. “After quarantine, it didn’t pick back up, so we wanted to get it started again this year, hopefully keeping the tradition going.”
In the weeks leading up to the event, a SignUpGenius form was sent out to students via Schoology, and students from each grade and teachers were encouraged to join and participate in the games. Only 20 students were able to sign up for each team.
“It’s open to everyone for any grade, so anyone can play,” Tolson said.
Within a couple of days of the sign-up form being posted, students began to sign up with their friends and classmates.
“There’s a lot of interest and excitement– I didn’t think people were going to sign up that fast,” Benzing said.
The games took place after the fourth block in a PM assembly schedule. All students began to fill the gym, and soon after, the games began.
The first round of games was between the freshman and junior teams, and the juniors rose victorious. In the second round, the senior team defeated the sophomores. The juniors and seniors battled each other in the third round, in which the seniors won.
In the fourth round, the senior team took on the teacher team. The teachers were declared winners against the seniors.
Plans to continue hosting the Turkey Bowl event appear underway for future years.
“We definitely want to continue this,” McLaughlin said. “Next year, if they want to do this, we will get more involved with t-shirts and stuff like that.”
