The month of December flies by in a rush to winter break. As the vacation draws nearer, some are starting to look at their calendars and ask—why does the break seem so short? 

The answer is—it all depends on what day Christmas falls on. According to tech ed teacher Cortney Hauer, Christmas falling on a weekend gives students the least possible number of vacation days. 

Take this year as an example: because Christmas falls on a Sunday, our last day of school is Friday the 23rd. Winter break lasts from Christmas Eve, the 24th, to January second. This is 10 days, and only six school days. Since Christmas falls on a Sunday, New Year’s Day does as well. In order to observe this holiday, Monday the second is given as a vacation day.

In comparison, winter break in 2021 was eleven days long, with seven school days off. Last year, Christmas fell on a Saturday. Therefore, students got off on the twenty-third, giving them vacation on Christmas Eve. School started back up again on January third, just as it does this year. But because of the day Christmas fell on, the break is one day longer.

Some students feel strongly about the length of the holiday break. “It’s too short,” said sophomore Jairus Campos. “I could definitely do more if [it] was longer.” Another student agreed. “I feel like we should have more time before Christmas Eve and Christmas,” said sophomore Bella Martenson. “We aren’t going to get anything done on Friday.” She even proposed having a FID day as the last day before break as a way to let students get any last minute work done.

When thinking about winter break, many students associate it with the end of a semester. In some schools, midterms and finals for the first semester are the week before break begins. This means students only have to go to school on the days they have finals, thus elongating their break further. However, at MT, midterms fall in mid-January. This breaks up the winter even more. 

Additionally, one unique aspect of the MT’s winter is our frequent four-day weekend. While many schools have a dreaded stretch from February to May with no true vacation, we have a four day weekend each month until the end of the year.

Another aspect that must be considered when discussing winter break is once again how its length depends almost entirely on Christmas. This focus around the Christian holiday fails to acknowledge other winter holidays such as Hanukkah, which this year falls the week before break begins, or Kwanzaa. “I celebrate Christmas and I still don’t like it,” said sophomore Khoi Greer about the nature of the break. Sophomore Lily Babione, a Jewish student, had another take on the point. “We don’t need to get off for Hanukkah, it’s not a major holiday,” she said. “I wish I got off for the bigger holidays so I didn’t have to miss school or miss major tests. It’s just annoying.” This turns the discussion into an even bigger one, not just referencing the winter break but the school calendar in general.