Great photos. You need to fix the captions because Glen Rock schools were not closed. The Glen Rock students who were there did so despite the decision to prioritize winter vacation plans by having school on Martin Luther King Day instead of the Friday of winter break. This change was to make up for days lost to the hurricane. The Ridgewood students were off of school.

Ironic that the only school aged kids pictured are from Glen Rock (who had school), and none of Ridgewood (who didn't have school). The message would appear to be that if you really want kids to celebrate the holiday, keep the schools open. Apparently, they're more likely to attend a celebration event that gets them out of class because if you give them the day off, they'll spend it skiing.

There were many Ridgewood kids at the 2 hour service in the church. The students from Project Interact of Ridgewood High School were recognized and thanked for their participation.

Yes, JAFO, this is a poorly attended event by students. It is a missed learning opportunity. The choir from Oakland has school. They sing every year. James can you post more Men of Umoja photos? Love to see them.

What a BS feel-good holiday. March, make speeches--the same crap every time.

The right way this holiday should have been handled (and I said this years ago) should have been to re-visit this 50 years after MLK's death when his contemporaries were either very old or very dead. Take a hard look back over those 50 years and see if Dr. King had the influence and effect he's been thought to have. If so, grant the holiday. If not, name a street, railroad station or airport after him. After all, we've named such things for far less deserving people.

But, as long as the NBA is playing afternoon games and people are going out shopping and otherwise not caring (kind of like the way Memorial Day has become), that tells me that the holiday is just another meaningless holiday and another day off. And, if people are marching and making speeches by rote (because it's the same stuff every year), then that adds to the meaninglessness.