Snow days are fairly common with the weather in Wisconsin, which may be beneficial for some but burdening to others. Some find snow days as a time to relax and rewind from school, to focus on yourself and have a mental break. Others however find snow days as a stressful time worrying about assignments that are due and having to make up time for classes. To put into layman’s terms, snow days can be more of a benefit than a burden.

Revised schedule for the 2022-23 school year

From what it looks like the Stevens Point school district has decided to add only one make-up day at the end of the school year which would be Monday June 4th with the next day Tuesday June 5th being the last day of school. In an email sent out by the Stevens Point School Districts director of secondary education Jeffery Mlsna and the assistant superintendent Christopher Nyman, they state, “in an effort to prevent additional calendar revisions, any school closures between now and the end of the 2022-23 school year will be Synchronous E-Learning days across all PK-12 levels.” This is just Pk-12, to make it more relatable here is what they say for 7-12 grade, “All students will engage in a 10-15 minute synchronous check-in time. Specifics on the times and format will be communicated to students and families by your school. The synchronous check in will be a 10-15 minute Google Meet to ensure that students are set up to succeed on the Synchronous E-Learning Day.”

How snow days affect teachers

When asked if snow days are beneficial SPASH Journalism teacher Ms. White said, “ I love the unpredictability of them, I like the change in the weekly schedule, they give us more time to do things we are passionate about, it’s good for mental health.”

However when asked if snow days are a burden Ms. White stated,  “ I think the problem comes with having to make them up, nobody wants to go later into June. If we use e-learning days students would be fine because they went through a whole semester of it.”Snow days can be difficult for teachers because it gives less time for them to teach their required lessons.

When talking to Ms. White about how snow days affect her she said, “There’s a lot of shifting things around, teachers have to constantly shift lessons around.” On the topic of schools being added on to the end of the school year Ms. White had this to say, “ I wish we could have used e-learning days instead, I don’t want to go further into June. There are legal requirements. A couple of years ago we added minutes to the end of the school day.”

How snow days benefit students

On a survey filled out by 61 students they were asked if snow days are beneficial or burdening. 92% said that they’re beneficial while 8% said they’re a burden. When asked why they are beneficial and or burdening students said they are beneficial because you can catch up on sleep, catch up on work, relax for a day and avoid danger. Students who said they are burdening have good reasons as well, such as taking away from our education and making it stressful to catch up.

When the students were asked if days should be added to the end of school year it was rounded up to this. It’s actually pretty divided, a lot of students say no because: they don’t want the extra days of school, it’s pointless to go and not learn anything and that we should do e-learning on snow days instead to make it up. On the other hand students are saying yes because they want the teachers to be able to teach what they have to and to not have to cram it all in towards the end of the year. Then there’s a few students who say that days should only be added if we go past a certain number of days missed.

Snow days can be more of a burden than a benefit.

SPASH Junior, Jessica Caves believes that snow days aren’t very beneficial and are a burden. Jessica was asked some of the same questions as the students in the survey. When asked if snow days are beneficial Jessica states, “No, because all the classes have to get pushed back.”  and when asked if they are a burden she said, “Yes, because then we’re behind on school and are rushed to get things done.” This is a pretty fair viewpoint especially if you’re a student who is struggling in a class.

Just as Ms.White was asked how snow days affect her as a teacher Jessica was asked how snow days affect her as a student and she claimed, “it makes school stressful.” which practically ties in with her previous answers. Days being added on to the end of the school year is controversial with everyone and in Jessica’s view on the matter she says, “No, because then we lose our summer” which is a good point. Who wants their summer to be taken away from them because of snow days?