St. Cloud Cathedral Kills Snow Days
David Wiley via Creative Commons Is new technology going to eliminate snow days?
Scores of kids around the state had school cancelled due to Monday's snowstorm, leaving them free to sleep in, sit back, and enjoy a free extended weekend courtesy of Mother Nature.
Lazy students got an extra day to procrastinate writing that paper they put off all weekend, while others had a chance to go sledding, build a snow fort, or, more likely, sit inside while live-tweeting a Netflix binge.
Unfortunately for students at St. Cloud's Cathedral High School, that wasn't the case.
See Also: 11 Dumb Things Minnesotans Do When It Snows
By 10 a.m. teachers had lesson plans up online and students were ordered to report remotely from their school-issued MacBook Airs.
"It just struck us one day, well why don't we just have school, everybody has their machine at home anyway," said Cathedral President Michael Mullin.
Teachers conducted virtual classroom sessions using a Google app, allowing school to continue without interruption. Cathedral was already planning to test its plot to kill snow day on November 21, but when Monday's snowstorm came school administrators decided to try it early.
"Every teacher but one had his or her lessons up in time and the students were there. We haven't really debriefed it yet, but all indications are it went well," said Mullin.
Mullin was thoughtful, but ultimately unapologetic when we asked him about being the architect of the demise of one of Minnesota students' most cherished events.
"I don't know if I feel bad, like with every other experience change is inevitable. I think you can still have the wonderful experience of the snow day and get some work done," he said. "Here's the tradeoff: You don't have to sit wondering for the next three months whether or not we'll have more school in June."
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