By Grahm Reynolds
February break for students around the country serves as nothing more than a four-day weekend, breaking up the otherwise undisrupted school weeks during the months of January, February, and March. It acts as a halfway point for between winter and spring break. The reason for the break, however, isn’t just to give schools a break. Presidents’ Day – the third Monday of every February – is the facilitator of this mini vacation.
Presidents’ Day started in 1885, as a national holiday to celebrate George Washington’s birthday, which is February 22. It evolved into its modern day form in 1971, when the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Washington were combined into one national holiday, in order to give workers more three day weekends. Since then, the holiday has been taken as a day to honor all U.S. presidents by many people. This begs the question; what do some BHS students think about Presidents’ Day?
“No school [and] nothing else. I actually care about a lot of the random holidays but Presidents’ Day means nothing. [It] doesn’t even make sense,” said one student who would prefer to remain anonymous. Obviously, this student does not revel in the holiday as intended by its founders. Other students share similar sentiments.
“It’s important to honor the presidents of our country, but I feel that President’s Day in its current state is a bit pointless. It’s just an empty holiday. If some sort of tradition was established for it, then it would make sense as it would honor the Presidents,” said Aditya Rajpurohit.
This fault, that many students like Rajpurohit see with the holiday, traces its roots back to 1879, when the initial day off was given.
Junior William Mollow also believes the day lacks value.
“From what I know, [Presidents’ Day] is a long weekend to honor George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays. The sole idea of Presidents’ Day is to celebrate America’s greatest past Presidents. However, Presidents’ Day for me just means I have an extra two days off of school that I can use to refresh and relax. I wish it mattered more a bit more for me, but I’m really going to enjoy the extra two days off,” said Mollow.
Other students do see value in Presidents’ Day, and believe that it is an important holiday.
“Presidents’ Day means to honor those who have contributed to America’s successes while in office. The fact that it’s also a federal holiday shows how it’s an important day for the country’s history,” said Andrew Bono, a junior.
Sushant Kunwar sees Presidents’ Day similarly. “To me, Presidents’ Day is a day to appreciate the Presidents, past and present, and recognize the effort they’ve put in to make the lives of Americans better. Though, not all Presidents work fully in the interests of the people, it’s still important to recognize the work they do,” Kunwar said.
However you see Presidents’ Day, it can be important and beneficial to take time off and “refresh,” as Mollow said.
And in times such as the ones we live in, it can’t hurt to heed President George Washington’s words; “Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.”
