By Gemard Guery- Editor-In-Chief and Editorial Editor

Holiday breaks are known as great days for students to catch up on school work. A great day to study, work on projects, and just get ahead in classes.  Since there’s no school, it’s just a day to  finish what you have to get done and prepare for school the next day.  

However, this has proven to be problematic for some students.  Some students actually have religious holidays that they celebrate during those days off from school.  Having tests, projects, and various other assignments to complete over those days may prevent them from experiencing a holiday incredibly important to them.

“It’s important to take into consideration other people’s cultures and how they celebrate them.  Schoolwork on holidays may interfere with how well they can partake in their specific holidays,” sophomore Ella Franzman said.  “It may stress them out and it’s important that students should be able to not be stressed out as they celebrate. “

Students should not have to worry about assignments over the course of those holiday days off.  The students who celebrate should be able to celebrate without worrying about the next big assignment the second they get back to school.  By scheduling so many tests and quizzes right after those days off, students are prevented from partaking in holidays important to them.

“Instead of celebrating Yom Kippur which is considered the most important holiday in the Jewish faith, I had to worry about studying,” Franzman said.

Some people may argue that students who don’t celebrate will be able to take advantage of not having anything to do on days off.  However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  It rewards students who have been keeping up with school and allows them to take a break. Additionally, it gives students who may have been struggling with keeping up the opportunity to get caught up without falling behind further.

In order to ensure that students can freely celebrate their respect, Milford should have a policy in place to prevent tests, and projects from being due on days back from holiday breaks.  Rather than leaving it to a specific teacher’s discretion, a policy would guarantee that students have those days free to celebrate.

“It’s important to have this policy because I feel insensitive that I have to be worried about studying and homework while I’m supposed to be celebrating a holiday,”  Franzman said.

It’s important to recognize that teachers are not intentionally ignoring religious holidays. Sometimes, teachers are unaware of all the different religious holidays that students may celebrate.  Some students may also not be comfortable advocating for themselves in that manner.  Another way to solve this problem is to speak to students about what holidays are important to them (even if school is in session on those holidays) to work around that.  Asking earlier in the year through an anonymous form or a conversation would give the information needed to schedule assignments and be prepared for the year.

“There are not holidays every day so if you can speak to your students to find out what they’re comfortable with and potentially get a feel for which holidays are represented by your students would be great,” sophomore Sanna Joshi said.  “Keeping a calendar would also be a great way to ensure that your schedule doesn’t really interfere with student’s holidays.”

Students shouldn’t have to worry about schoolwork on days where they have religious and cultural commitments.  In order to ensure that, schools need to implement guidelines and policies that guarantee students can freely celebrate and communication between teachers and students is essential.