Suburban kids enjoy snow day while other Chicago area students learn remotely
LA GRANGE PARK, Ill. - While drivers were toughing it out all day, some kids had a snow day.
But not all kids. It’s a winter tradition that’s melting away thanks to the pandemic and technology.
There were kids and parents out in La Grange Park all day long enjoying the fresh snow.
It was a perfect day for sledding, with kids enjoying something that is becoming increasingly rare – a school snow day.
"I was really happy. I was excited to just hang out with my friends and stuff," said Colin Shea.
It was a day reminiscent of a lot of our own childhoods. Going up and down the sledding hill, making a snowman with some of your buddies, or playing football in the snow.
With the winter storm dumping about 10 inches of heavy wet snow so far, most of the schools in La Grange and La Grange Park shut their doors and declared a snow day.
But a lot of districts in the Chicago area took a page out of the pandemic playbook and instead switched to remote learning, keeping kids inside their homes and tied to a computer.
Some of the parents that FOX 32 talked to say they can understand the reasoning behind that, but sometimes they say it’s good to just let kids be kids.
"Every district needs to do what they need to do, but for our kids it was nice to have a true snow day and not have to check in. And as a parent it's nice they can just come out and do this," said parent Katie Lutzow.
Noreen Veeser is a teacher and parent.
"For some school districts that means adding a day at the end of the year. So adding a day in June can be a little more difficult as well. So it's hard, everyone’s situation is different," she said.
Ben Blair is Principal of Rogers Park Montessori in Chicago. Blair said he declared a snow day because he believes it’s actually beneficial for students.
"I think there’s value in these moments of reckless, joyful abandon. Whether flopping in the snow or meeting neighbors out on the street shoveling, that human connection that serendipitously happens during a snow day is fantastic," he said.