Holidays are the time for families to come together and to celebrate their own special beliefs. All families don’t exactly have that opportunity, for the district does not seem to recognize that all religious holidays are equally important and should all have a day off to recognize the importance of that particular day.

When the celebration of Easter comes along the Friday before that Holiday is always a day off. Students that celebrate other holidays don’t get any days off.

“There has been many times that I had to come very late to school or be absent for the whole entire day because there was not a day off for the holiday that I celebrate, which is Eid”, said Malik. “I am either attending a mandatory prayer or ceremony that I cannot miss which causes me to miss school.”

When Winter season comes along, all of the students are looking forward to that long Holiday Break. It’s a little bit different for sophomore student Jacob Ploeger that celebrates the holiday Hanukkah.

“Most Jewish holidays are not acknowledged by the district so we always have to find away to work around it,” said Ploeger. “We celebrate only at night the and wait until the breaks that the school give us to do our family trips.”

Christmas is a very popular holiday throughout out the United States, but that doesn’t give the district permission to ignore the fact that there are other holidays that the students are celebrating.

“The majority of the population in America celebrates Christmas, so it makes sense that there is such a long break that recognizes Christmas as a major Holiday,” said Hera. “But it would be nice to have a late start or day where we get to go home early for all of the people that celebrate other holidays that the district doesn’t recognize, like Eid.”  

The district may decide what religious holidays are considered “important enough” to be taken a day off for by the percentage of how many students are participating in that particular holiday.

“The most prominent religious group in Texas and our area is Christianity,” Ploeger said. “They wouldn’t give a break for the 20% of the people instead of giving a break for the 80% of the people.”

Students that do not have the opportunity to celebrate their holiday with a peaceful day off, does not just affect their personal life, but their school life as well.

“Students usually have to come get work for me from the days that they are missing”, Jessica Davis said. “It would work out so much better if the students just had a day off so they wouldn’t have to miss the lesson plan and have to come in before or after school.”

“It’s not exactly a holiday for me when I am worrying about my school work instead of enjoying what should be a special day”, said Hera.“I feel like someday soon the district will realize that all religious holidays are important holidays.”