Senior Reactions to No Off Days
Sydney Manns
Staff Writer
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Traditionally, the announcement of an off day sparks excitement and is a stress reliever for students. Students will even settle for a two hour delay if it means more time for rest. With COVID-19 spreading throughout the world, snow days and two hour delays became non-existent. Instead of a day off, students Zoom their teachers at normal times. This year’s seniors have much to say about not having any more snow days.
“When I would wake up in the morning for school on a day that we were supposed to get snow, I would check my phone immediately to see if my mom had texted me saying we had a two hour delay," senior Bailey Tyner said. "It would be such a nice feeling to wake up and know that I could go back to sleep for a little bit longer that day. I also would look forward to the shortened class periods we used to have on those days."
“I feel the two hour delays kind of played a role in the whole educational experience. It’s something that added to students' lives in my opinion. Definitely was a bright thing in the depressed school system,” senior David Williams said.
Snow days used to be spent enjoying the outdoors with friends.
“I used to spend my snow days playing in the snow with my neighbors, sledding down the hills by our church, and watching movies while drinking hot cocoa,” senior Kalei Howard said.
“I would take the day to relax and maybe get caught up on schoolwork,” senior Emily Lessard said.
Some students are quite upset about the lost time.
“I am upset that we will no longer have snow days because those were the days I would most look forward to in order to spend with family and friends," Tyner said. "I don’t think that schools should continue to do this in the future, because it is something kids look forward to and taking that away is taking away part of our childhood."
“I am sad because it was a nice and needed break,” Lessard said.
Meanwhile, some students are not shocked about losing yet another thing due to the pandemic.
“Everything has changed this year so nothing really surprises me anymore. I’ve lost some motivation with school, so hearing about the two hour delay doesn’t necessarily affect me, especially since I’m a member of CVVA,” Howard said.
“I feel bad for the younger generations for not being able to experience what we have for so many years, but as we are moving towards college I’m not really as affected,” Williams said.
Other grades are also being impacted by not having the snow days students are used to having in winter.
“I think in the future it will majorly impact kids growing up. When I would hear that it was going to snow on a certain day I would get super excited to have off and go play in the snow, but now future generations won’t get to experience that. Snow days also gave students time off, as well as a mental health break which was very beneficial," Tyner said. "Having two younger brothers who are growing up under these new conditions, I think it’s very disappointing that they won't get to experience some of the things I did. My youngest brother, who is 6, doesn’t get snow days anymore. He has to wait to play in the snow when it's either almost bedtime or for the next day when the snow has already started to melt. It’s upsetting to me, and many others, that kids won’t get to experience the fun days we would have when it snowed anymore."
“On a mental and emotional level I feel it will negatively impact kids. It was always an exciting thing to know that you could have a break from the stressful and fast passing school life,” Williams said.
“The entire world has switched to virtual learning, so Zoom will now forever remain in our public school systems. I feel as if snow days are now useless, and that mental health days should be used instead,” Howard said.
The future is unknown, so snow days and two hour delays have a strong chance of returning at some point. For now though, students will have to deal with only having weekends off.