Exploring Religious Diversity in ELHS

Following the apparent issues
surrounding accommodating
differing religions at ELHS
ALEX BROWN
ELHS is home to students with many different religious backgrounds. With these religions come many sacred holidays and traditions. This can, at times of overlap, be troubling for both students and teachers in coursework-heavy classes. Some students believe that ELHS isn’t doing enough to accommodate those who practice religions which celebrate non- Christian holidays.

From barely recognizing holidays to receiving a seemingly dismissive tone, students from the Cultural Awareness Club describe their frustration with the way teachers at ELHS handle differing religions’ holidays. “If I say there’s some sort of traditional thing I have to do that day, and the teachers aren’t clearly understanding of it, they are just kind of like, ‘Oh, do you really have to do it?’” senior Jeanette Liu said.

Students from the Cultural Awareness Club also express their issues with the current systems in place to accommodate students with differing religions. They express how postponing tests or homework isn’t always effective for them since they still have to make the work up relatively quickly. This puts students, who can’t study during their religious holidays, at a disadvantage on learning and processing the content when they have minimal time to make up work, despite extensions. “A couple of times the teacher said I could take a test on a different day, but I still have to study that day,” senior Dina Sokolovskaya said. On the other hand, the administration at ELHS has described how dealing with this issue has proved to be extremely complicated and difficult. With so many different holidays and traditions to accommodate, deploying a system that takes care of all of them simultaneously would be nearly impossible. “It’s complicated for teachers,” assistant principal Henry Kydd said. “They do have a curriculum to get through, but they also have to show awareness.” Despite these difficulties, administration feels that if students
need accommodations for religious holidays, the best course of action is to simply have a conversation with their teachers about it. Teachers at ELHS are briefed to assist students with religious holidays that overlap with heavy coursework and work out a plan that is best fit for their situation. “I think where the school falls short sometimes, and what we need to do a better job of communicating to students is if you’re celebrating one of these high holy days in your culture, faith, or tradition, feel free to let us know,” Mr. Kydd said. “We’ll do whatever we can to accommodate you: get an extended deadline, take a test on an alternate day, or whatever it happens to be to help you out.”

‘I think where the school falls short sometimes, and what we need to do a better job of communicating to students is if you’re celebrating one of these high holy days in your culture, faith, or tradition, feel free to let us know.’
– Mr. Kydd