Passover: April 20
Earth Day: April 22
Secretaries' Week: April 20-26

Passover: April 20
Passover commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt in ancient times. The name of the holiday refers to God's having "passed over" Jewish homes the evening before the exodus. While the holiday spans over eight days, only the first two and last two days are considered full holidays.

During Passover, Jews are required to retell, in detail, all of the events surrounding the holiday. This recounting of the Passover story takes place during a special holiday meal called the seder, which is held on the first two nights.

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Earth Day: April 22
On Earth Day, people pay special attention to the need for cleaner air and water, and the conservation of the earth's natural resources.

In 1969, former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson started planning for a teach-in on the declining state of the environment. His idea was met with enormous enthusiasm, and on April 22, 1970, more than 20 million people across the United States participated in the first Earth Day.

Today, more than 200 million people worldwide share in activities designed to promote a clean and healthy environment. These include exchanging flowers and plants, recycling paper, metal and plastics; carpooling, and repairing — rather than replacing — non-biodegradable items.

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Secretaries' Week: April 20 - 26
Secretaries' Week is April 22 - 28, 2007. This observance, now celebrating its fifty-third year, recognizes the contributions of millions of office support staff the world over. This year, Secretaries' Day is Wednesday, April 25.

Administrative professionals in the modern and highly competitive workplace have more on their plates than their titles might infer. Not only do they manage information, create reports and presentations, coordinate meetings and travel, but they also handle much more responsibility than ever before.

Secretaries' Week began in 1952 as National Secretaries' Week. Its primary purpose was to zero in on the workplace contributions of secretaries, and secondarily, to draw younger people into secretarial (and related) careers. To date, Secretaries' Week has become one of the world's most observed workplace occasions.

According to U.S Department of Labor statistics, there are more than 3.9 million secretaries and administrative assistants working in the United States. Additionally, there are 8.9 million people working in various administrative support roles.

In Canada, there are 500,000 administrative professionals, which includes 402,600 secretaries, 11,900 executive assistants, and 94,000 clerical supervisors. Millions more work in offices globally. With those kinds of numbers and that kind of dedication, it's certainly cause for celebration!

Source: iaap-hq.org

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