Many students at BFA and in the Maple Run District have wondered why school wasn’t held on October 2nd. The reason is because of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jewish people, spanning from the evening of Wednesday, October 1st, to Thursday, October 2nd, this year. It is known as the Day of Atonement, when Jewish people pray, fast, and seek forgiveness for their sins, learning from past mistakes. In Judaism, the holiday originated from the Golden Calf incident, which occurred when the Hebrew prophet Moses descended from Mount Sinai to find the Israelites worshipping a false idol. Other than eating and drinking, going to work on Yom Kippur is forbidden for observant Jews, which is why the day is taken off for Jewish people.
According to Superintendent Bill Kimball, the Maple Run Unified District has not yet publicly announced the reason why we had Yom Kippur off this year, but has said that numerous school districts are choosing to celebrate the holiest days of different religions to honor and support community members who observe these days. Maple Run schools will also be closed for the Hindu holiday of Diwali later in October and for the Muslim holiday of Eid in March.
Additionally, according to Principal Rico, BFA used to have two days off in October for teacher conventions, but over time, those days went away. This year, it has come back in the form of a teacher inservice day, tomorrow, the 23rd, and Friday, the 24th, as a non-student and staff day.
There were no after-school activities the Wednesday before, because Yom Kippur technically starts the evening of October 1st this year. All athletics were supposed to be notified of this a week before, but were not notified until a few days before Wednesday. Theatre, and possibly other non-athletic clubs that met after school on Wednesday, however, were not notified of this until after school had ended over the intercom. Similarly, there are no after-school activities tomorrow and Friday due to Diwali.