Winter break? Or Christmas break?
By Auden Koetters, Staff Writer
At the beginning of every school year, I mark my calendar with a day of paramount importance: the first day of Winter Break. I, like many of my peers, know this date marks the end of a grueling semester and the start of a two week laissez faire and procrastination period. We count the weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds until the day in which we are finally free of the crippling finals and group projects that always seem to somehow be a one-man job. Deep down we know that once this day arrives, Dec. 25 is right around the corner. Noble firs and Blue Spruces are delicately chained to the roofs of minivans with Jesus bumper stickers, and inflatable Santas of Brobdingnagian proportions appear on front lawns. It is no coincidence that the wondrous winter break encompasses such a magnificent holiday; so, is it then no coincidence that winter break fails to include another winter holiday, Chanukah? Are schools so impervious to their Jewish student populations that they won’t even grant them a small break during their days of celebration?
While some students get to enjoy their Christmas dinners unfettered from school, others are forced to sit through their religious celebrations with the weight of their impending finals forcing them into a slump. Jewish students must scarf down their matzo ball soup and choke on their latkes in order to have enough time to memorise the last bit of information necessary to receive an ever-important A. Why is it that such a dichotomy between religions exists in the American school system during the 21st century? In truth, it should not. Schools should make accommodations for non-Christian holidays. For Christ's sake (no pun intended). In years past, the administration memorialized the mass murderer Christopher Columbus by giving students a day off school to honor him, but still refuse to acknowledge Chanukah! Santa Monica High School principal, Antonio Shelton, acknowledges the complexities of this issue while recognising that schools have state mandated in-school hours that have to be met.
“It's not meant to insult or harm or hurt someone who is celebrating. I don't think we could make accommodations for that,” Shelton said.
Shelton further raises the point that for each absence from school, the school loses money. He anecdotally references a school in Manhattan Beach which charged students for their unexcused absences. This leads to the question of whether the school district is prioritising things such as “pupil free days” or certain holidays over others? Is the school district proposing that money supersedes the needs of students?
Despite not acknowledging Chanukah, the school does recognise other Jewish holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, however, masquerades them behind different names such as Admissions day. Shelton keenly remarked upon the title of “Winter Break” as opposed to “Christmas Break” insinuating that a minute change in wording disentangled the district from their error. Howbeit, winter break still extricates students from school for the days surrounding Christmas, while forcing their Jewish counterparts to endure neverending finals during Chanukah. I only hope that in the haste of finals week no homes have been lost while feverishly lighting a menorah.