Dear Editor,

“No School!” Reading this in an email notification is a great feeling. I know I can let a sigh of relief out knowing that I have an extra day to sleep in, relax, or dabble with that essay due in two days that hasn’t been started. On Jan. 16, we do not have school, but why?

In 1983, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a holiday into law. The holiday is celebrated in remembrance of a man named Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.  As of 2000, all of the United States takes the third Monday of every January off. 

Well, that’s a really great thing to look forward to. After a filling holiday and some fun bringing in the New Year, an extra day to the weekend is a relaxing way to look at it, right? Wrong. This man has an amazing story, hardships, successes and failures. 

There were reasons that Americans refused to observe his day and reasons why Ronald Reagan admitted to only passing the bill because “Congress seemed bent on making it a national holiday.” 

I don’t know how many of my peers are aware of why we had January 16th off of school, but I will guiltily admit I did not know until I was reminded of MLK day. 

There is certainly a difficulty in telling whether or not it is the excitement of an extra day of vacation or the excitement of celebrating a man who has been assassinated for representing a cause.

Don’t get me wrong— I am not saying we should eliminate his celebration because whether or not we do is not my opinion. 

I think we should do more as proud Americans to actually celebrate this day n order to fully appreciate, understand and be aware of its importance.

Martin Luther King Jr. is not a man we named a day after to get a day off of work, but a man we wanted to and should celebrate. 

Sincerely,  

Arielle Boutwell

Class of 2015