I remember growing up as a child in Kewanee and an impending snow storm was always good news. Upon waking, and after peering out my window to confirm a blanket of white, I would run down the stairs and turn on the radio hoping to hear that Kewanee School District had canceled classes. It rarely did.

But if the news was good, I usually went back to bed, at least for a couple hours before I would get up, make a bowl of cereal, and tune in the television for my game show fix. Card Sharks and the Price is Right were my favorites.

This morning, I thought about those snow days after hearing a reporter from WQAD make an appeal to schools to give kids a snow day rather than an e-learning day. My own husband, who works out of town, took a wellness day after I balked at the idea of him driving 40 miles in a snowstorm not knowing if he would get there or return home safely.

Snow days were essentially kid “wellness” days. They were a great way for kids to feel as if they were playing hooky without having to bear the guilt. And I wondered why kids today weren’t being afforded that same great feeling of simply being able to go back to bed?

So being curious, I phoned Kewanee Supt. Dr. Christopher Sullens to inquire. I wondered if e-learning meant that staff and faculty were still required to trudge through the snow to their buildings; or how the decision was made for an e-learning days as opposed to just a plain old snow day? And I was happy when he took my call and answered all of my questions.

E-learning is fairly new to the Kewanee School District and like everything in the early 2020s, if you want to know what ruined snow days, look no further than COVID. When the pandemic hit, school districts were forced to innovate, and thanks to the internet, online classrooms were born.

Dr. Sullens said that students have grown accustomed to e-learning and since it’s an available option, it makes snow days obsolete. Schools are allowed as many snow days as necessary, but the first five snow days must be made up. That causes a problem when make-up days extend beyond the year-end allotted make-up days of May 23-30 and runs right into summer school.

Sullens said the goal is to schedule the start of summer school before Memorial Day, so making up too many days at the end of the year can cut it too close.

The issue of faculty and staff coming into the building for e-learning was also discussed. Dr. Sullens said that staff and faculty are not required to drive through the snow to get to their buildings but they are allowed to do so. Several teachers at the high school prefer to come to the building to use the school’s wifi and computers. Others, he said, stay at home, and at home, the high school teachers log in to Google Classroom about every 42 minutes for their class periods.

Aids can come in or take a personal day, if they have one available. If they don’t, they also have an option of making up those days at the end of the year. The goal is to ensure that snow days don’t affect their pay, Dr. Sullens said. Bus drivers, sadly, are out of luck, since there are no make up days for them.

Of course, the cafeteria workers for the KCUD 229 are the unsung heroes. They brave the weather and report for duty, cooking both breakfast and lunch for students who are able to make it to Kewanee High School, Central School or Neponset, where the meals are served.

Not all schools are able to have e-learning days, Dr. Sullens said. Schools must register an e-learning plan with the state. Kewanee schools have all done so, but not every area school has, he said. Those students are given a snow day.

The saying “all good things must come to an end” seems to apply here. Snow days, because of a pandemic and the internet, are most likely a thing of the past. But if I could make an appeal to the school districts, maybe every once in awhile, give the students a mental health day in the form of a snow day. Let them go back to bed and wake up to enjoy doing absolutely nothing. Maybe they could even get a chance to play in the snow. It wasn’t so long ago that I can’t remember that, as a kid, there was nothing more sweet than a snowstorm that closed down the school.

Stay safe out there!