So Long, Snow Days

By QI WANG and CAROLINE GROSS

During long, dark winters, impromptu snow days off can be refreshing. However, the onset of the year’s first major snowstorm also brought an end to traditional snow days for Jericho students.

Since the inception of remote learning due to the COVID pandemic, an alternative to traditional snow days is now possible. Although most students prefer having traditional snow days because it provides a break from school and screens, Superintendent Mr. Grishman reminds students and families that snow days are for safety. “I’m not at all surprised that students would feel that it’s a great break, but again, we have to remember that the purpose of a snow day is for health and safety, and although we are always concerned about mental health, snow days are for physical health and safety,” he said.

Most believe that snow days are cheerful times to be cherished. Senior Elisa N. said, “It’s like a relaxing day, and I really love it. Before, I treated it like a weekend day. I kind of just spent time with family. I walked outside, maybe played a little bit with snow, and then I studied. Then it was a cheer day.”

Junior Jillian M. added, “I actually really like snow days because I used to live in Massachusetts, and we would always get a lot of snow, and we’d always have days off from school. So a lot of us go outside and I also hang out with my family.”

After the Jericho school district declared a traditional snow day on December 17, 2020 despite warnings that it might be a remote learning day, The JerEcho surveyed the student body. Of 479 respondents, 91% reported that traditional snow days are still necessary and should not be replaced by virtual learning.

Many Jericho High School teachers join students in their appreciation of snow days. Math teacher Ms. Survilla said, “My feeling is that I love snow days. I think it’s a great time to recharge, re-energize, refocus. It’s a nice time as a teacher to catch up on work if we need to.”

World language teacher Ms. Gropineanu said, “I think we should have traditional snow days, meaning we shouldn’t have school at all because some houses may have power outages, and children need to play in the snow.”

In addition, Ms. Gropineanu values the importance of snow days for child development. She said, “Life or childhood is about learning, but also about playing in the snow.”

Many Jericho High School parents have similar feelings. Parent Lindsay D. said, “I think that normal snow days are very important to continue. On a typical day, we would all sleep late, make cookies, play in the snow, sometimes we would take the time and organize around the house, and all do some work. They are very important to the kids because they provide time away from the screens.”

Some feel that traditional snow days are even more necessary during the COVID pandemic. Sophomore Enson P. said, “This year the online school is definitely more challenging because it has its own distractions. So I think snow days are much needed, especially this year.”

According to Mr. Grishman, there will be new criteria for deciding snow days. He said, “If we are expecting a big storm where there are going to be power outages and where kids are going to have issues regarding the size of the storm, we would have a snow day.”

At the beginning of February,  a massive snowstorm slammed the Northeast. After receiving nearly 2 feet of snow, the school announced February 1 as a traditional snow day and February 2 as a school day with completely virtual instruction. Many students were slightly disappointed because, during a typical year, there would have been 2 snow days.

Junior Flora Q. said, “Personally, I don’t feel like we should have a fully remote day rather than a snow day. I feel like having a snow day helps me relax a little bit, and it helps me catch up with work. While on Tuesday, having a remote day just felt kind of exhausting because I feel like everyone was stuck at home, including the teachers, and I could tell everyone felt really tired, and it made me feel kind of tired too.”

Freshman Casey D. said, “I think that the school should give us the same amount of snow days that they would have in a normal year.”

Senior Avi S. predicts snow days will disappear in the coming years. He said, “I think this year, snow days are kind of vital, but in the years to follow, I could see them disappearing.”