In celebration of Thanksgiving, PPCHS’s very own christian club First Priority held its Thanksgiving meeting on November 20th, to teach a biblical mindset. In room U115, up to 40 students attended and were greeted with the sight of cookies and welcoming smile’s of First Priority’s board.

To kick things off, the meeting was initiated with an icebreaker game. 10 volunteers came to the middle of the room and were partnered up, facing each other. A water bottle was placed between each pair and whoever grabbed it first won. 

After the friendly game, First Priority sponsor Adrial Gonzalez came up to share an inspiring message. He shared his story on how his mom battled to survive a very rare type of cancer that was originally found in her shoulder. “Doctors said she had [only] 30 days to live,” Gonzalez revealed.  

Since this was during the 2008 market crash, his whole family suffered financially and the only doctor who would operate was all the way in New York. After the first successful procedure to remove the cancer from her shoulder, an MRI scan revealed that some had made its way to her lungs. 

With her next appointment in two weeks and having no money to stay at a hotel, a local church opened their doors. The day before her procedure, “the church all gathered around her and prayed for [her] healing,” Gonzalez stated, “the very next day when they did another scan, the cancer in her lungs was nowhere to be seen.” 

Gonzalez stated that the difficulties that happened in his mom’s life had taught her to trust in God wholeheartedly. He went on to say that the Thanksgiving message was to give thanks no matter what the circumstance is.

“It was an impactful message,” stated freshman Noah Lopez. “Learning to have a biblical mindset with friends and other like-minded people really helps, in my opinion, bring the school closer together.” 

In addition to the heartfelt message, the whole club came together to take brightly colored construction paper and turn them into Thanksgiving cards for loved ones. Students wrote down messages of gratitude and biblical quotes while enjoying delicious chocolate chip and sprinkle cookies. 

This invite week helped fellow PPCHS students connect with each other and realize that there is always a positive outlook, no matter the struggles.