WAYNESBORO – For fourth-grader Toby Campbell, going to school Monday on Memorial Day was old hat.
"I had to do it last year, so how bad could it be this year?" the Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School student asked shortly after the start of school. "As long as I get a Popsicle, I'm fine."
As unpatriotic as it might sound, sending students to school on Memorial Day can be blamed on Old Man Winter. Schools officials in Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro had to alter school schedules to make up for too many snow days taken this year, although Waynesboro opted not to send students to school on Monday.
Because of the harsh winter, school systems lengthened school days, shortened spring breaks, canceled certain holidays and stretched the school calendar in an effort to recapture the lost snow days, of which there were many.
Evan Harlow, 10, like Campbell, said he too understood that the snow days forced the students to trudge to school on a day that's usually reserved for swimming, cookouts and honoring those who died while serving our country.
"It's okay, we have something planned for today. It's fun," Harlow said.
For others, like 10-year-old Adasyn Hollinger, coming to school on the holiday was a little more personal. "I was excited because I get to spend another day with Mrs. Turner," said Hollinger, well aware the school year is almost over. "We don't have a lot of time left."
Making the best of the holiday, on Monday the fourth graders at Hugh Cassell decided to lead a Memorial Day celebration at the school.
"My personal opinion is we need to be observing Memorial Day," said Julie Turner, a fourth-grade teacher at the school whose father, 91, was a paratrooper in World War II. "We should honor those people who kept our freedom alive."
With many students at the school wearing red, white and blue, as well as the teachers, students gathered at the flagpole in front of Hugh Cassell as two fourth graders read Memorial Day poems before the Pledge of Allegiance was recited, followed by the Star-Spangled Banner. The students also had a minute of silence for the fallen.
"It's a good day to look at history and reflect on different things," Principal Mindy Garber said following the ceremony.
But Garber said despite the planned celebration, attendance was expected to be lower than usual.
"The enrollment usually does drop," she said.
For the entire Augusta County school division, Superintendent Chuck Bishop said attendance Monday was only 58 percent. Bishop said it's typically about 93 percent. He also noted that seven percent of the teaching staff was absent as well.
In Staunton, attendance was slightly higher at 74 percent, according to Staunton City Schools. That's compared to its average rate of 95 percent.
As for Waynesboro, attendance was zero across the board as the city's students were excused for the day and given a chance to enjoy the unofficial start of summer.
Read or Share this story: http://www.newsleader.com/story/news/2014/05/26/schools-open-memorial-day/9593073/
No comments:
Post a Comment