Scraping car windshields, shoveling driveways, or bundling up like you’re going on an arctic expedition just to go get the mail.
Ohioans are not foreign to the concept of freezing temperatures and snow. However, in recent weeks, these temperatures and weather conditions have become seemingly more extreme.
On Sunday Jan. 25, almost the entire state of Ohio got a minimum of 6-inches of snow, which has not been predicted since 1972. According to The Guardian, as of Friday Jan. 23, at least 16 states have declared a weather emergency, stretching from Maine to multiple southern states, such as Kansas and Texas.
The Plain Local School District has already had three calamity days this school year, two due to snowfall and one due to sub-zero temperatures in the morning. With seemingly more to come, staff, administrators and students alike have different reactions to our recently allocated time off and what they do with that time.
“I feel like calamity days bring the community together when teachers and students can both be excited about the extra time off,” senior Lily Ramey said. “I usually spend these days the same way I would a normal day with around four-to-five hours of schoolwork and then relaxing the rest of the day.”
Relaxation and the ability to get ahead on assignments that these extra days pose are always a plus, but some have more mixed feelings.
”I enjoy the extra days off to catch up on rest or school work,” senior Hannah Pace said. “(However)… if I had to choose one thing I disliked, I’d say that it takes time away from things I need to be doing in school. To some extent I’d say that they change my regular routine/workflow.”
Teachers alike also addressed the disruption to routine that these days off cause.
“Particularly for those classes that are arranged as true blocked classes (i.e. meet on only “A” or “B” days.),” math teacher Matthew Brown said. “I and other math teachers have serious grievances with the effects of the block on math instruction, and missing school further exacerbates these problems.”
Grievances aside, it seems as though students and teachers alike always enjoy this brief intermission of regularly scheduled learning.
”After 32 years of teaching, I still get a small thrill either when seeing the words “Plain Local” on an online page or listing that morning’s school closings, or hearing the same on WHBC AM-1480,” Brown said. “I am amazed at how quickly calamity days roll along. I will occupy myself with reading, playing piano or guitar, or some household chores, and before I know it, 2:10 p.m. has arrived.”
Although there will always be varied interpretations of these days off, most are like minded and can agree on what they do with this time and the enjoyment they get from staying nice and warm at home.
“Regardless of the profession, any time you get a paid day off that you can spend with your family it is a welcomed form of rest and relaxation,” sports medicine teacher and athletic trainer Alex Shaheen said.
Enjoy this break from the deplorable third quarter; sleep in, stay warm and stay updated by checking student square or parent square, or by looking for updates on the district’s website (plainlocal.org).
