Facebook: Teen Voices @ TFPMARK YOU CALENDARSCalendar looking a little bare? Consider celebrating these holidays listed on www.holidayinsights.com.* Feb. 15: Singles Awareness DayNo date required. Singles Awareness Day is the quintessential answer to your Valentine’s Day loneliness. If you’re feeling left out, this day is for you.* March 10: Middle Name Pride DayWhether it’s your name of choice or a skeleton in your closet, today is your chance to reveal to the world what that initial stands for.* Aug. 13: Left-Handers DayFor those who feel oppressed in a predominantly right-handed world, this is your time to shine. Right-handers might get the other 364 days and regular scissors will still hurt with extended use, but at least it’s something.* Sept. 19: International Talk Like a Pirate DayThe name says it all. Of course, in the pursuit of the essence of pirate, the appropriate attire can do wonders as well.* Oct. 23: Mole DayNo, it’s not devoted to the mammal. This holiday references a unit of chemical measure defined as 6.02 times 10^23 particles. Fittingly, it’s celebrated 6:02 a.m.-6:02 p.m. on Oct. 23.
By Jeremy Stevens
Valley Voices Staff Writer
When it comes to holidays, there are the big names — Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Easter — and the small names.
To local high school students, a holiday’s importance is often based on whether school will be in session.
For all the pomp of the office it honors, some Hamilton County students said they see Presidents Day as just a day off.
While she won’t complain about the free time, Red Bank High School junior Kalyn Helton said she thinks more students should appreciate the holiday’s true significance.
“Students should remember all of the past presidents and know how hard it is to serve our country,” Kalyn said. “There is not enough emphasis placed on (minor holidays) because some students just think that it is a cool day because we get out of school.”
According to Prologue Magazine, a publication of the National Archives and Records Administration, there is no holiday called Presidents Day. Officially, the third Monday in February is Washington’s birthday.
Whatever the name, not all students are relieved of schoolwork for the day.
Unlike public schools in Hamilton County, McCallie School does not break for most federal holidays such as Washington’s birthday or Martin Luther King Day.
Sophomore Elliott Andrews thinks that discrepancy is unfair.
“Most federal holidays are taken off by public schools,” Elliott said. “Therefore, it should be required that all schools, including the privately owned ones … observe these holidays.”
Even if desks are still occupied during a holiday, some students said they make an effort to honor them in some small way.
Kalyn said her parents always made sure she was aware of Christopher Columbus’ accomplishments on Columbus Day. Watching Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions on Groundhog Day was another annual tradition, she said.
To Elliott, however, the day is just a rest stop between more noteworthy holidays.
“I think that Groundhog Day is just a way for certain people to relieve themselves of the drollness of the months of January and February,” he said.
Jeremy Stevens is a student at Ooltewah High School.