NESPA Winner: News Story, 2022

W.A. Ghostwriter, Westford Academy, Westford, MA

The WPS School Committee discussed a potential district-wide holiday on Diwali, more positions for staff at WPS, and COVID-19 testing at their meeting on Jan. 18. at the Millenium Conference Building.

I. District-wide Diwali holiday proposal

Sophomore Natalie Strauss and junior Spoorti Tadakamalla presented to the school committee the idea to have a holiday for Diwali. Strauss and Tadakamalla suggested removing one day from either February or spring break and using that day to give a holiday on the third day of Diwali.

Diwali is the Hindu celebration of the triumph of light over dark, and it is one of the only cultural celebrations that is celebrated by many of South Asians, specifically Indian, descent, regardless of religion.

However, the date of the Indian festival is calculated by the lunar calendar, which means the date shifts every year. Diwali usually falls on a school day, causing students to take excused absences. The pair’s main argument was that although excused absences are allowed for religious reasons, students are required to make up the work they missed that day, which might cause the student to have to do some work during the day of the absence.

Read the full story here.