A Late End by Shanna Smith

Many students jumped up and down out of excitement after receiving the much-desired Snow Day phone call. However, what these students forgot in that moment was the consequence of snow days: public schools must make them up. After reaching the maximum amount of snow days this year, an immense amount of public high schools do not end their studies until the last week of June. Students are starting to realize how their five days of fun will affect their summer. This leads to a question: were the snow days worth the late end?

There is a fair share of students who would argue in the positive. Students are given a week and a half of winter vacation and two months of summer vacation. So, it is nice when students are allotted more time to do winter activities, such as sledding, skiing, or simply walking in the snow.

However, the majority of the buzz about school’s late end tends to be more negative. “The snow days were nice, but they are really taking a toll on my summer,” an anonymous source says. Like this student, many did not consider that lengthening their time to enjoy winter would shorten their time to enjoy summer. Everyone loves sleeping in, having an extra day to finish homework, or even simply enjoying the snow. But as many students complain, after the snow day is over, it usually is not worth it.

By the fifth snow day this year, students who had previously expressed excitement and passion for snow days changed sides. Many started to realize that summer activities would be held off by an entire week, and some grew tired of the snow. Sleeping in a few hours and procrastinating homework a little longer no longer seemed worth the effect it would have on summer vacation.

Marblehead High School junior Jessica Drooks earned a summer job as counselor at her overnight camp, Camp Tevya. Her job requires all counselors to attend orientation on June 19, a commitment that would have been possible before the five snow days. However, with school now ending on June 27, Drooks is forced to balance school and her job. “I obviously can’t make finals,” she says. “I am going to have to take some of my finals early and miss some of my orientation.” Drooks and many others show their dedication to both school and their jobs by finding a way to commit to both obligations; she is officially leaving for her job on June 25, six days later than previously planned.

Situations like Drooks’s are difficult because there is no one to blame except Mother Nature. Finding a summer job can be an incredibly tricky and time-consuming task, so once students earn such a job, they must do whatever they can to keep it. School is also a top priority, and finals are essential to passing a class, so students must exert an extra effort to try to finish their finals early. In a situation like this, snow days do much more harm than good.

In the past few years, it seems like the end of the school year has been pushed back further and further as a result of holidays and snow days. Some have suggested ways to limit snow days’ effects on summer. “I would rather make up the snow days on weekends instead of having them cut into our summer,” a student says. This is controversial in that it may be equally inconvenient for students to attend school on weekends. However, it deserves consideration. The truth is there is no good way to deal with the snow day situation; no matter what, the solution is going to be inconvenient for at least one group of people. The weather in New England is not the most severe in the world, but there are still days when it is nearly impossible for some students to drive down their street, let alone drive to school. Thus, snow days are necessary measures taken when Massachusetts is hit with severe weather; however, the majority of the student body would much rather have a long summer.