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Veterans Day: Are the problems of students and staff greater than those of veterans?
Cartoon by Tanya Nguyen
Vincent Hsueh, Contributing Writer
On the eleventh of each November, the United States celebrates a holiday called Veteran's Day, when citizens celebrate the return of local war veterans and honor American veterans for their patriotism, bravery and the sacrifices they made to protect the country we all love and cherish.
"It's a time for reflection for most veterans, who obviously have feelings for that day. It's not so much their day but their friends' day, people who have fought in the war," Alan Dugard said.
In honor of Veteran's Day, the Irvine Unified School District schools have Tuesday, Nov. 11 off, whereas other schools have a four-day weekend with no school on both Monday and Tuesday. States and local schools are not required to follow closing policies and are allowed to decide whether or not to close school as a result of a holiday or inconvenience, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. School Districts such as La Canada, Alameda and Napa Valley have extra days off for Veteran's Day.
"I think we should have [Monday off] because we definitely need to respect our veterans, but we should just do it on a day that is easier for people to celebrate their veterans," sophomore Phillip Swanson said. "It would be easier on everyone if we had it on Monday."
A sudden break in between school days inconveniences both staff and students in their teaching plans and schedules. This creates stress for students as well as disruption in their learning process that results in numerous assignments due the next day as compensation for an entire day off. As for the staff, they have to rearrange their meeting schedules to fit into the limited spaces throughout the week and grade loads of assignments and tests.
"The one thing I think people need and that I enjoy is having the week of Thanksgiving off completely and how the rest of the month shakes out, I'm kind of indifferent about it. But I do know that the one day off makes it difficult to schedule lessons for teachers, assessments and tests around that time, so it can be challenging to plan your classes," Christopher Krebs said. " If we take days off in November, we've got to add days in the end of the year, and it makes it harder for students to be prepared for some of them [tests]."
Although having school on a Monday and then having a day off may seem complicated to some people, it is a small price to pay compared to those who have sacrificed their lives to protect not only our lives but also future generations to come.
"A lot of people who don't even look at Veteran's Day as an important day are people who have no regard for the past and what has been done for these people. I feel very seriously about what the day means, and I do reflect on my friends who didn't come home," Dugard said.
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