How Students, Instructors Handle Snow Days

By Monique Henderson
Staff Writer
thehutchinsoncollegian@gmail.com

It is that time of year when the weather gets negative and people layer up in clothes. 

While Christmas has gone and went, there is still a long way to go before May. 

There are many ways to handle the cold, especially with school to contend with.

A student’s point of view is obvious – they generally like having school called off – however the teacher’s point of view is not too different, as demonstrated by Matt Smith, the advertisement teacher and Kim Johnson the marketing teacher at Hutchinson Community College.

“I actually don’t mind the cold all that much. As long as I get bundled up and have multiple layers on, I can usually tolerate it well,”  Smith said “Usually, on snow days, I first get my driveway and walkway cleared off. Once this is done (and after warming up), I spend some time in my recliner catching up on movies or TV shows. I often will use snow days as time to catch up on grading, as I did with the most recent days off.”

HutchCC had days off due to snow and cold on Feb. 18-19.

Smith said he is pretty good at driving in all conditions, but even drivers need lessons, so he took a defensive driving course.

“As I assume most people would say, I think I am pretty good at driving,” Smith said. “Many years ago, I had the opportunity to take a defensive driving course where we learned what to do when we lost control of the car due to ice or snow. I am positive this knowledge has kept me from going into the ditch more than a couple of times.”

Smith said he handles assignments by what the class and the homework is.

“How I handle homework on snow days just really depends on the class and the homework,” Smith said. “If the work is over information that was discussed in a previous class, I’ll go ahead and leave the due dates alone and ask students to go ahead and get the work in. If, however, the snow day causes us to miss a discussion on this material, I am usually willing to push the due day out a few days to give us the opportunity to converse on the material before turning in the work.” 

Kim Johnson said she handles the cold pretty well. In fact she even loves it when it snows.

“I usuallymake soup in the crockpot, bake cookies, and read a book by the fireplace,” Johnson said.

Johnson said she drives well, as long as it is in 4-wheel drive.

Johnson said she pushes the due date of her assignments out before submitting assignments, so the class can discuss in person. 

So you see, teachers have a lot to contend with and enjoy snow days as well as students do.

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