CHS Dreads the White Spell Thursday, December 18, 2008 By Anne Ruuskanen CHS enjoys a sunny day before hit with a sign of snow later on. - Advertising The weather outside is frightful and students are fearing the worst. With the news about the snowday policy, the last thing everyone wants is snow. There has only been slight flurries so far, but the biggest storms are yet to come.   The snowday policy states any school days must be made up during the year. This is either done by taking days that we would have off from school or by adding them to the end of the year. "The policy states that any snowdays have to be made up during the school year. So, if we miss any this week [the week before Christmas break] we'll have to make them up Monday and Tuesday of next week," said Vice Principal Mr. Archibald. There are parts of the policy students disagree on.   Freshman Aishia Hillier says, "I think the policy itself is okay, but I don't think we should be "punished" for the snow days."   Snow days can be defined in a number of ways. It is either a large amount of snow on the ground or ice on the roads. Algebra A Teacher Ms. Greene, a new faculty member, said, "I think it just depends because the busses run such big routes.We have gravel roads. We have state-maintained roads, and even though the interstates and highways may be safe our side roads may not be. So you have to think more about what roads the buses are traveling."   Some believe it only takes 2 or more inches of snow to make a snow day. This may be because there could be ice on the roads underneath. Others think the conditions need to be more drastic. There should be ice on the ground, visible or not, and traveling on some roads may be nearly impossible. Even though the main roads and highways are passable, the country roads must be taken into consideration. A number of our students live several miles out of town on gravel roads. Some curves may cause drivers to wind up in a ditch or a wreck with another driver, or with an animal for that matter.   Aishia said, "What worries me about snow days is the accidents and the black ice. There are drivers who go down certain roads at 60 miles an hour with all the black ice and all I can think about is them hitting a tree or another driver. They could even run into an animal, like a deer, that could hurt them."   The unexpected vacations are always welcome. "I like the unexpected break, because a break is always nice," Ms. Greene said.   And then there are the bad outcomes. "I think students like snow days because it's a whole day off from school and you get to have fun. But what they don't realize is that we eventually have to make those days up during the year," stated Aishia.   It is well known students at Cameron High School enjoy snow days. Not only is it a chance to get away from classes, but it is also a day for fun and relaxation. Many kids like to play in the snow, go spend time with their friends, and stay home nice and warm. Aishia says,"I like snowdays because I get to stay home and sleep-in like I normally don't get to."    Ms. Greene agrees, "A day or two at home is always nice, but too many days at home can get pretty boring after a while."   "To the students the chance to have a snow day is "Great, we don't have to be here," but then they also realize "Great, now we have to make those days up during the year. "Personally, I would rather like to have a sunny day off instead of a cold winter one. Because then we don't get the nice day off like we were supposed to," Mr. Archibald said in regards to the matter.   This years remaining scheduled snow days are  January 19, April 9 and 14, and May 23-29.   The weather may be nothing more than cold right now, but a snowstorm can never be predicted. Keep a look out for any signs of storms which could cause bad road conditions. And let's all hope that the snow we do get comes during our Christmas break.

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