It was a snow day of epic proportions.

My right knee bares the stitches scar as proof.

An unwise decision to slide on seemingly smooth snow skidded me over pointy rocks hidden beneath the white stuff. My snow pants were ripped and bloody. My pleas with my older siblings not to call our mom at work were tearful.

The finale was a trip to the emergency room.

Best. Snow day. Ever.

However, such days may be numbered.

That eventful day was a snow day, an unexpected vacation from school thanks to the auspices of Mother Nature in the Lehigh Valley.

Officials closed school out of concerns for school bus drivers and their student passengers as well as for their faculties and staff struggling to commute through rough weather and over roads impacted by winter.

In the wake of pandemic learn- and work-at-home upgrades to technology and many mindsets, could the unbridled joy of a snow day be lost?

Members of the generation preceding one’s own often tell tales, some quite tall, of hardships rendered at the vagaries of winter weather. For instance, has a grandparent ever talked of walking up hill both ways to get to and from school?

In a favorite picture book, “The Snowy Day,” by Ezra Jack Keats, a little boy named Peter has an excellent day in the snow, climbing, summiting a mound of snow while pretending he’s a mountain climber, testing his theory of footprints and learning about melting after a snowball he saves in his pocket magically disappears once he goes inside.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education website, “All public schools are to be open each school year for at least one hundred eighty (180) days of instruction for pupils.”

It continues, “The number of instructional hours in a school year is to be at least 450 for half-time pre-K and kindergarten, 900 for full-time pre-K, kindergarten and elementary and 990 for secondary. Exceptions to the requirement for 180 days of instruction or to the daily school hours may be made based upon Section 1504, as amended by Act 80 of 1969.”

In coverage of the East Penn School District school board meeting of March 9, 2020, before COVID-19 tightened its grip so firmly, discussion of the school calendar noted there were three snow days built into the academic year plus flexibility for five makeup days into June if necessary.

Pandemic protocols created school-at-home for many as classrooms for those just entering kindergarten to college seniors and beyond adjusted to learning online. Some readers may recall photos this time last year of Salisbury Elementary School students participating in school spirit days while dressed as “The Grinch,” discussing their favorite winter books and sharing mugs of hot cocoa in Zoom calls.

Many high school students of the week who have appeared on our pages have talked about the challenges and the benefits of learning online. Some prefer to learn this way, while others do not.

Many noted the difficulty of participating in clubs and other student groups online. Spring theatrical performances and other events were altered, postponed or canceled in 2020. Graduation ceremonies looked and felt different. High school sports felt the pinch as well.

Meanwhile, questions of access to the necessary technology to attend school from home were, and remain, in the spotlight.

As efforts continue to find the “new normal,” will the humble snow day survive in the colder, albeit climate- changed, eastern United States?

I hope so. My scarred knee exhibits proof of that hope.

April Peterson

editorial assistant

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press