On Wednesday May 25, the Wayland School Committee decided to recognize Lunar New Year as a holiday. Following the lead of Brookline and Hopkinton, Wayland is the third school district to acknowledge Lunar New Year as a holiday.

Discussions over having Lunar New Year as a holiday began with the work of freshmen Eunjee Kang and Jordynn Lee. Both students wanted Lunar New Year to be made into an official holiday and a day off from all Wayland Public Schools. To achieve this, they set up a petition, created a Facebook page, urged people to sign the petition and met with School Committee.

Before School Committee voted in favor of Lunar New Year, Lee felt as if her holiday was ignored.

“For me personally, I felt like I didn’t belong,” Lee said. “I felt like my culture didn’t fit in at Wayland with all the other cultures and holidays. It was as if my culture wasn’t a real holiday to them.”

Now, Lunar New Year is officially a holiday for WPS students.

“I’m so happy to say I no longer feel like that,” Lee said. “I can now be proud that I helped students like me to feel like they belong.”