Winter in Howard County this year has been an array of snow days. There were seven snow days in January, including three consecutive Snow days in a row (January 6th, 7th, and 8th). February also had two snow days. Atholton High School students, staff, and administrators shared mixed feelings regarding snowdays. While many enjoy the extra time for work and hanging out with family a snowday brings them, there are some individuals who highlighted the cons of snowdays that are oftentimes overlooked. Overall, many people appreciate a day off.
Ms. Omisore, ninth and tenth grade English teacher, said, “I felt elated, thrilled, happiest I’ve been all school year.”
Snowdays are a refreshing break for everyone, whether they are a student, teacher, or administrator. It provides the opportunity to sleep in, the time to catch up on work there hasn’t been time for, or even the time to do some of your favorite hobbies.
Not to mention, snowdays give additional time to spend with family. Ms. Galbreth, Atholton High School science teacher, was elated about how the snowdays provided her more time to spend with her children.
She said, “We have a hill in our backyard, so we went sledding down our backyard. We also ended up trying to build a snowman, although it wasn’t super easy.”
Although snowdays come with an abundance of excitement, there is one unfortunate con. Every snowday calls for an additional day added to the end of the school year, shortening our summer vacation. In fact, Howard County has already started to extend the school year- it went from ending on June 11th, to ending on June 18th.
Sophomore Bella Rocco said, “I hope that we don’t get any more snow days, so that our summer is as long as possible.”
Teachers also value their summer vacations, just as much as students do. History teacher Mr. Detomo said, “It makes me sad to lose time in the summer.”
Ms. Galbreth said, “I love the snowdays, because I’m all about instant gratification.”
However, she mentions that later on as it gets closer to summer break, she wishes we could have just come to school in January. “I’d rather be outside with my kids,” she said, “you know, in the warmer weather.”
Mr. Detomo mentioned the fact that snowdays cause students and teachers to fall behind on their schedules.
He explained how “having consecutive snow days in a row made it very challenging for students and teachers to keep up with the planning progression of classes.”
It is interesting to see different perspectives individuals have on snow days.
With the air temperature being in the single digits, the roads outside are the iciest they have been all year. The low temperatures will surely freeze you into ice if you are not bundled up in multiple layers, a fuzzy hat, and your warmest pair of mittens. However, even with all this ice and cold winds, Howard County students and staff were still able to find their ‘sunshine’.
Not only did Ms. Galbreath get to spend extra time with her beloved children, but so did Assistant Principal Mr. Dubski said, “I have two little kids and we spend our days sledding.”
Ms. Omisore mentioned how in her extra time, she got to catch up on her reading, and Bella Rocco said how she got to spend additional time with her friends.
It always gives a rush of joy when it is announced that there is a snow day, but this excitement is often overlooked when realizing that snow days cut summer short.