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Education Focus: Holidays

Posted on 2013/03/25
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holidayWhat holidays do American schools observe?
American school districts have the responsibility to decide which holidays to include in their school schedule.  So, it depends on which district a pupil’s school is in.  The advantage of this is that a particular school district would have the flexibility to give its students a holiday honoring a local hero.  For example, many schools in Chicago, and some in its suburbs, observe “Pulaski Day” in honor of the Polish-born Revolutionary War cavalry officer.  (This is related to the fact that Chicago has a large Polish population.)  Practically speaking, though, there are a set number of certain holidays that school districts choose to observe, regardless of the locale.

What are some typical holidays included in an American school schedule?
Holidays generally observed in an American school schedule include:

New Year’s Day (January 1, generally included in winter break/Christmas vacation).  This holiday celebrates the beginning of the year according to the Western (Gregorian) calendar.

Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January).  This holiday celebrates the birth of the 20th-century civil rights figure.

Washington’s Birthday / Presidents’ Day (third Monday in February).  This holiday honors the lives and contributions of American presidents, past and present.

Good Friday (date varies).  This religious holiday recognizes the crucifixion of Christ.  Some school districts follow tradition in letting students have this day off, while others simply schedule a spring break/Easter vacation around this time, anyhow.

Memorial Day (last Monday in May).  This holiday honors the men and women who have given their lives in service in the United States Armed Forces.

Labor Day (first Monday in September).  This holiday celebrates the American worker and the labor movement.

Columbus Day (second Monday in October).  This holiday honors the man who is generally credited with discovering America.

Veterans Day (November 11).  This holiday originally commemorated the signing of the armistice that ended World War I, but has since been expanded to honor all surviving veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday of November, along with the following Friday).  This holiday is a remembrance of the harvest festival held by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.

Christmas Day (December 25, generally included in winter break/Christmas vacation).  This religious holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.

Why are some people against giving students so many holidays?
Some people are concerned that letting students have so many days free from school sends the wrong message about the meanings of these holidays.  They believe that having these holidays off detracts from instructional time.  It would be better for the students to remain in school and learn why these dates and / or holidays are significant, instead of implicitly encouraging students to think of these dates as just another day free from school and homework.

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Culture Focus: Leap Day

Posted on 2012/02/29
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Today is Leap Day.  Normally, February has only 28 days, but 2012 is a leap year – instead of having 365 days this year, we have an extra (intercalary) day, called a leap day, which is inserted into the regular calendar on February 29.

Have you ever wondered why we have an extra day approximately once every four years?

Pope Gregory XIIIThe modern solar calendar is called the Gregorian calendar, after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced this calendar.  The Gregorian calendar is actually a modification of the Julian calendar, which was named after the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.  The Julian calendar was a solar calendar that had 365 days per year and twelve months like our current calendar, with an extra day being added every fourth year.  This extra day was necessary, because in reality it takes a little longer than 365 days for the earth to make one complete orbit around the sun.  A solar year is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, or not quite 365 and 1/4 days.  Julius Caesar therefore included an extra day every four years to keep the calendar on track with the sun.

The problem, however, was that the solar year is slightly less than 365 and 1/4 days, so adding a leap day every four years was really an overcorrection.  This error resulted in a gain of one day for every 128 years.  So by the time of Pope Gregory XIII in the 16th century, the Julian calendar was 13 days out of sync with the solar year.   After consulting with mathematicians and astronomers, Gregory solved the problem by reforming the Julian calendar.  Instead of adding a leap day every four years, Gregory’s reform said that century years (years ending in 00) are not to be considered leap years, unless they are also divisible by 400.  Thus 1700, 1800, and 1900 were NOT leap years (since they have a remainder when divided by 400), but the year 2000 WAS a leap year (it is divisible not only by 4 like a regular leap year, but it is a century year that is also divisible by 400).  Gregory’s reform improved the accuracy of the Julian caLeap Year Traditionlendar, making the Gregorian calendar so accurate that it would take 3,323 years to gain one day.

One tradition associated with Leap Year has to do with marriage.  Normally in a relationship it is the man who may propose marriage, but in Leap Year, a woman doesn’t have to wait for a man – she may propose marriage herself.

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