Three cancellations in one school week! That might be a Beaver Area record!

Three cancellations in a row came as a shock to Beaver Area students and teachers January 30–February 1, but the unexpected break seemed helpful for students who had mounting stress and several midterms to study for.

The last week of January proved to be a hectic one. Beaver Area was off Wednesday and Thursday due to cold weather (as expected by many because of news coverage of the unusual “polar vortex”) but having Friday off was a real curveball. All students and teachers expected to have school Friday, but ended up first having a two-hour delay which soon rolled over into a cancellation due to the unexpectedly slick, unclear roads.

With these three days of cancellation came planning troubles. Mrs. Michelle Dietz, an English 9 and English 10 teacher said, “The three cancellations didn’t mess up my schedule as much, but it did push back my activities planned for this week.”

On the other side of the spectrum, most students were relieved. Sophomore Emily Anderson said,

“The three cancellations let me relax for a bit and get all of my schoolwork done, but most importantly relieved my stress.”

What did you do during our unexpected break? A survey was put out to 30 Beaver Area students with this question. In first place with 26 percent is, of course, sleeping. In second place with 17 percent is watching TV or Netflix. In third with 13 percent is playing video games. Taking fourth is reading with 9 percent, and finally hanging out with friends scored only 4 percent—perhaps because it was just too cold (-5) to go anywhere.

“I wanted to hang out with my friends in Beaver, but it was way too cold to do anything last week,” commented freshman Tess Porterfield.