We are so glad that our institution of learning afforded we students a day off on Martin Luther King Jr. Day so that we could do nothing but learn about his work and his legacy in the civil rights movement.

At least, that is what we expect to hear from a group of high school students in Des Moines.

Because of a snowstorm a month ago, the Des Moines public school system canceled school for two days. In accordance with their calendar, which stated that Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents Days were reserved for snow day make-up in the event of a cancellation, the school district planned to have class on Mon., Jan. 21 — Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

But the Youth Council of the Des Moines branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People decided to fight for the day off from school. The rhetoric of the Youth Council members’ concern raised at least one choice exclamation. “To belittle his success by allowing us to go to school and learn about something besides his legacy is something we can’t fathom because it’s so unbelievable,” one student said.

In an attempt to mitigate such reactions to having to go to school, the interim superintendent of the school district said that although students would have class on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the day would be dedicated to learning about him.

Then the Des Moines Register’s editorial board weighed in on the issue. They argued that Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be a “scheduled holiday” so that students could take “a day off to honor the slain civil rights leader.” According to them, having school yesterday to make up for a snow day would have been a “blunder.”

Next, at a Des Moines school board meeting, students spoke up again, arguing that having to go to school on the day commemorating King’s contributions to American society would be wrong. Instead of spending the day in school, they said, they would have a chance to work on their service projects. “To do is better than learn,” one said. She went on: “It’s better to be out there doing things than to just sit there in class and listen and learn.”

At first glance, it might look as if we are trying to beat up on a group of kids several years younger than us. Indeed, they almost certainly will not read this editorial.

Those students’ efforts contain a message for us all. There are any number of other Congressionally designated days that go unobserved even though they are, officially, holidays. Among them are Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Earth Day, Arbor Day, Patriot Day and Pearl Harbor Day. All of them should accompany days of service. True service to a community knows no calendar bounds. It is not restricted to a legally defined day.

Everyone has their own heroes. For the most part, federal holidays are best reserved not for individual people — great though their accomplishments may be — but for concepts and ideas. Not every important figure can have a holiday. Indeed, more than 365 people made this country into the great beacon that it is, and if each of them had a federal holiday, the country they made would be paralyzed.

And hey, if President Barack Obama and the whole top layer of government officials along with hundreds of thousands of supporters, can hold Inauguration Day ceremonies on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the rest of us can spend a little time working, too.