NPHS “leapers” celebrate the leap year
Since the 16th century, our modern calendar, the Gregorian calendar, has included “leap day,” which occurs only once every four years. Leap day was created in order for the four seasons to occur regularly, as our calendar would be off by around 24 days each century without it. It occurs on Feb. 29, and over four million people across the world celebrate their birthday on leap day. There is even the “Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies,” with over 11,000 members. Many students and teachers at NPHS celebrate their birthdays on leap day, forming their own “Honor Society.”
NPHS’ very own Anne Alvarez, special education teacher, is a “leaper,” who typically celebrates her birthday on Feb. 28. However, during the leap year, she makes sure to party hard on the real day. “Sometimes you say, ‘I’m going to celebrate my birthday on the weekend’ but I don’t…it’s on a Thursday [this year], and we are going to go out on a Thursday. My husband knows that he needs to celebrate [my birthday] on that day,” Alvarez said. During her childhood, she did not fully understand leap day, “Until later…like at ten to twelve [years old] I think I understood,” Alvarez said. The day Alvarez was born was a unique day, fittingly, as she said, “I was the only one born that day in the hospital. There was an article about it, and [my parents] were sent lots of diapers.”
Zoe and Siena Maturo, leap-day twins, are some of NPHS’s few four-year-old sophomores. They typically celebrate their birthday on Feb. 28, but have big celebrations on leap years. “For me and my sister’s eighth birthday…we had a really big party with our friends and family,” Zoe Maturo said. This year, she is looking forward to another large gathering filled with extended family and birthday well-wishes.
As a child, Siena Maturo, “…knew from a young age that this is a unique thing. Most people don’t only have a day that comes every four years,” Siena Maturo said. However, she enjoys her special day, as she says, “More people remember my birthday. So that’s kind of a plus, even if it’s the only thing they remember, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, you’re born on leap day!’”
The probability of being born on leap day is rare, as it is 1/1461, and only 0.07% of the population is born on the special day. “I feel special…it’s a special thing, and I tell people, ‘Hey, I’m special,’” Alvarez said.
