It can be worth not just complaining, but doing something – a twelve-year-old student in New York has now proven that. Thanks to his petition, New York public schools are starting their Christmas holidays earlier.
Nearly a million students in New York City public schools cheer. Her hero is 12-year-old eighth-grader Isaac Regnier from Brooklyn. Back in April he was annoyed when he looked at the holiday calendar. Monday, December 23rd should be a regular school day. How stupid is that, Isaac thought.
And his parents suggested he send a letter to the mayor. “The attendance rate will be very low this Monday,” wrote Isaac: “Children whose families have travel plans will have to change them or miss school that day. The children and teachers will be annoyed and learn nothing.”
Thousands of New Yorkers signed
Isaac also started an online petition demanding that everyone be given a day off school on December 23rd. Within days, thousands of New Yorkers supported his petition. And then this week it happened: a school secretary interrupted the lesson in his class in Brooklyn. There was an important call for Isaac.
On the other end of the line was New York Mayor Eric Adams. He has been accused of corruption for a few weeks and has had to deal with negative headlines ever since. He now enjoyed his role as Santa Claus all the more, being able to announce an early Christmas present: “You now have no school on December 23rd,” said Adams to cheers and applause from the school class. And of course this applies to all public schools in New York City.
To compensate, the school day will be made up in the summer. This means that almost a million students have not just nine days off between the years, but twelve.
“Symbol for the school community”
“My petition was successful,” said twelve-year-old Isaac happily, “and the Christmas holidays are an important topic.” What Isaac has achieved is a “symbol for the entire school community,” praised Mayor Adams: “Your voices will be heard!”
