DEB Resources

January 1 is New Year's Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is every third Monday in January and commemorates the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr., the recipient of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize and an activist for nonviolent social change until his assassination in 1968.

January 27 is designated by the United Nations General Assembly as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD). Since 2005, the UN and its member states have held commemoration ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism.

February is Black History Month. Read more about the importance of celebrating Black History Month in schools here. 

The date of Lunar New Year is determined by the lunar calendar so it usually falls on a different date each year. It begins each year on a new moon, usually coinciding with late January or early February in Western calendars. Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in the Chinese lunisolar calendar and is recognized by gift giving, parades, decorations, and feasting. 

Presidents Day is celebrated on the third Monday in February.

March is Women's History Month, an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated in March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with International Women’s Day on March 8.

Irish-American Heritage Month is in March. 

March is also National Disability Awareness Month, established to increase awareness and understanding of issues affecting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) happens on March 31 and is a day to celebrate trans people and raise awareness about the issues faced by the trans community. 

Holi is a significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring. Additionally, the day also signifies the triumph of good over evil. It lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of the Purnima (Full Moon Day) falling in the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna, which falls around the middle of March in the Gregorian calendar.

Nowruz is a two-week celebration that marks the beginning of the New Year in Iran's official Solar Hijri calendar.  It is a festival celebrating spring on or around 21 March on the Gregorian calendar.

April is Arab American Heritage Month. Beginning in the '90s, Arab American heritage was celebrated sporadically in various states, primarily in school districts. It wasn't until 2017 when Arab America began a national initiative to coordinate all states under National Arab American Heritage Month.

April is also Diversity Month, which was started in 2004 to recognize and honor the diversity surrounding us all. By celebrating differences and similarities during this month, organizers hope that people will get a deeper understanding of each other.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (sawm), prayer, reflection and community. A commemoration of Muhammad's first revelation, the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next. As part of the Islamic lunar calendar, Ramadan's dates vary according to the lunar cycle. In 2021, Ramadan begins on the evening of Monday, April 12 and ends at sundown on Tuesday, May 11. Eid al-Fitr is the Muslim celebration commemorating the ending of Ramadan.

Passover often falls in April and begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan in the Jewish calendar, which is in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and is celebrated for seven or eight days. It is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays.

Easter a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.

Word Autism Awareness Month

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 as a global event to raise awareness and action for the environment.

May is Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks on the project were Chinese immigrants.

May is also Jewish American Heritage Month, which was established on April 20, 2006, by former President George W. Bush to recognize the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to our culture. 

Haitian Heritage Month is a celebration in the United States of Haitian heritage and culture. It is an expansion of the Haitian Flag Day, a major patriotic day celebration in Haiti and the Diaspora. May carries a number of significant historical and cultural traditions that Haitians are proud to make aware of and to pass on to future generations.

Cinco De Mayo happens on May 5 each year that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.

Memorial Day is the last Monday of May and is a day of remembrance for those who sacrificed their lives in service of the United States of America.

Teacher Appreciation Week is the first full week of May. 

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, which is a time to celebrate what it means to be LGBTQ+, while demanding equality and liberation from cis and heteronormative constraints. Find out more about Seattle Pride. 

June 19 marks Juneteenth National Freedom Day. "Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863." (Juneteenth World Wide Celebration)

Caribbean-American Heritage Month also happens in June to honor the achievements and contributions of Caribbean immigrants and their descendants living in the United States, particularly in government, sports, entertainment, and the arts.

Disability Pride Month occurs in the United States every July to commemorate the passing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in July 1990.

September 15-October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. This month corresponds with Mexican Independence Day, which is celebrated on September 16, and recognizes the revolution in 1810 that ended Spanish dictatorship.

Rosh Hashana takes place on the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (September or October on the Gregorian calendar) for most traditional Jews, but only on the first of Tishrei for Reform Jews.. The Jewish New Year, is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year. Yom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement” is the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar and falls in September or October.

Labor Day happens the first Monday in September. It was initiated by labor activists in the nineteenth century and celebrates the accomplishments and contribution of workers across the U.S. to the country's strength and prosperity.

The first week in October is National Diversity Week, which was founded in 1998 to raise awareness about the diversity which has shaped, and continues to shape, the United States.

The second Monday in October is Indigenous Peoples' Day. 2021 marks the first time a U.S. president has officially recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day, which corrects a "whitewashed" American history that has glorified Europeans like Italian explorer Christopher Columbus who have committed violence against Indigenous communities (npr.org)

Multicultural Diversity Day (third Monday in October), a national day created by Cleorah Scruggs, a fourth-grade teacher in Flint, Michigan, the day was adopted as a national event by the NEA’s 1993 Representative Assembly to “increase awareness of the tremendous need to celebrate our diversity collectively.”

Filipino American History Month is celebrated in the United States during the month of October. October was chosen to commemorate the visitation of the first Filipinos who landed as slaves, prisoners, and crew aboard Novohispanic ships in what is now Morro Bay, California on October 18, 1587.

Italian American Heritage and Culture Month is also celebrated in October. 

National Disability Employment Awareness Month was declared in 1988 by the United States Congress for the month of October to raise awareness of the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities.

November is Native American Heritage Month, also commonly referred to as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose (National Native American Heritage Month).

• Native American Heritage Month | NCAI
• Westside School 2021-2022 School Year Resources

Trans Awareness Week is November 13-19. People and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility about transgender people and address issues members of the community face.

Transgender Awareness Week | GLAAD

Diwali, the “Indian Festival of Lights,” is a four- or five-day celebration in October or November each year. It is a major Hindu holiday that signifies the renewal of life, and the victory of good over evil, and combines a number of festivals to celebrate different gods/goddesses and life events, as described in Hindu tradition.

Dia de los Muertos happens from November 1-2 and is traditionally celebrated in Mexico and Mexican communities to honor and welcome the return of souls of deceased family members. Families create ofrendas (Offerings) to honor their departed family members that have passed. These altars are decorated with bright yellow marigold flowers, photos of the departed, and the favorite foods and drinks of the one being honored.

Veteran's Day on November 11 each year, provides an opportunity to honor and thank veterans for their bravery and sacrifice as former service members of the United States Armed Forces.

December 3 is the International Day of People with Disabilities, which recognizes and values the diversity of our global community, and cherishes the role we all play, regardless of our abilities (International Day of People with Disabilities (idpwd.org)).

Human Rights Day is observed every year on December 10, the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status (Human Rights Day | United Nations).

Hanukkah In Judaism, celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem with an 8-day "festival of lights". Celebratory events include nightly menorah lighting and special prayers, among others.

December 25 is Christmas, which commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ

December 26-January 1 is Kwanzaa, a holiday established in 1996 by Maulana Karenga as a time for African Americans to “discover and bring forth the best of our culture, both ancient and current, and use it as a foundation to bring into being models of human excellence and possibilities to enrich and expand our lives.”