One of the questions that parents and students ask is, “Why do we get out of school for Pulaski Day?” The answer to that is because we celebrate the birthday of Casimir Pulaski, a Polish soldier who contributed to the United States’ independence.

Pulaski Day was originally started in Chicago, Illinois. The first day that Pulaski Day was celebrated in Chicago was 1986. Pulaski Day stopped being celebrated in Chicago Public Schools in 2012, although most of the other schools in Illinois still observe it depending on the number of days they’ve missed already for snow days.

Illinois enacted a law in 1977 to celebrate the birthday of Casimir Pulaski and held its first official Pulaski Days celebrations in 1978. Wisconsin also observes Pulaski Day even though they do not close for it. Buffalo, New York celebrates Pulaski Day in the middle of July and celebrates it with an annual parade. Michigan celebrates a whole week  in October for Pulaski Day and the Polish culture in general.

Here in Palestine, Illinois, we still celebrate Pulaski Day by closing our schools for its observance on Monday, March 4.