Goodbye, Columbus Day
Change Translates to Four-Day Break
NEIRAD enilno edition
For the first time in the history of Darien High School, students must break out their pens and pencils and be ready for class to start at 7:42 on October 13th--otherwise known as Columbus Day.
For the 2008-2009 school year, the Board of Education has reached the decision to still have classes in session on Columbus Day; however students still have the day off on Thursday, October 9th for Yom Kippur and now Friday the 10th for a Staff Development Day. Do you know what that means…four-day weekend!
The Board of Education has been debating this decision for quite a while now. Most members of the administration felt that having school on Columbus Day was the best decision for our school year. In an interview with Neirad, Superintendent of Darien Public Schools, Donald Fiftal, explained that people nowadays are not truly recognizing Columbus Day for its true meaning. People just see it as a day off. Mr Fiftal, along with the rest of the Board of Education, believed that it would be of more significance to celebrate the national holiday in school than simply having a day off.
Mr Fiftal, stated, “As a holiday, Columbus Day observance events and ceremonies around this area, and in many areas, were becoming very infrequent. The day had become more of a fall shopping day than a day of observances for people to attend.”
As for the addition of the Staff Development Day on October 10th, Mr Fiftal said that he and the Board thought that it would be logical to have this day off. Without the day off on Friday, students would have no school on Thursday, then school on Friday, followed by a three-day weekend.
Sophomore Lauren Littell commented on the district’s decision, saying, “I really like the Friday off instead of Monday because then it’s like having a little break or vacation. Before it was annoying having to go to school in between.”
According to Mr Fiftal, “Opinions may differ on this, no doubt, but that was the reasoning that prevailed when this year’s school calendar was discussed.”
Many students may be upset that we don’t have school off on Columbus Day, but when they wake up at 11 am on Friday, our new Staff Development Day, they can think of the teachers hard at work and nestle back into their pillows.
