The first winter storm of the 2016/17 school year is significant enough for Superintendent Jamie Cain to declare a snow day. And that means a Snow Day Challenge! As this is the first of the year, let's look at ways to celebrate.
First Challenge
Sleep in! That's right. Early notification means there is no reason to be up early checking social media to see if you have school. Finish up any homework or assignments tonight for a relaxing start to your day. Many students, especially pre-teens and teens, are not getting the recommended hours of sleep necessary for proper functioning. Use this opportunity to catch up! After you wake up, read this Teens and Sleep article and make a plan from now until Christmas break for getting the required number of hours to feed your brain.
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| https://safifa04.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/passing-out-from-the-lack-of-sleep-and-amount-of-studying.jpp |
Go Outside
The past couple of years, many of the weather days have included frigid temperatures. Not so today! It's the perfect day to get out side and enjoy the snow. Don't forget to dress appropriately (hat, gloves, coat, boots). Here are some ideas for outside fun:
- Build forts to have a snow ball fight with your friends and neighbors.
- Measure the depth of the snow at different areas of your yard. Is the depth the same everywhere? To what do you attribute the snow depths?
- Shovel your sidewalk (bonus - help out a neighbor, relative, or someone you know who isn't able to shovel snow themselves).
- Take a walk and observe how different your neighborhood, favorite park, or trail looks when covered with snow (ask permission first!)
- Do you want to build a snowman? Today is the perfect day for an Olaf adventure.
- Create art in the snow.
And, of course, R E A D!
Reading is an every day activity, so no break on a snow day! However, maybe you could read to a younger sibling, or find your favorite book from when you were younger and return to reading that you enjoyed. Or, check out these digital options:
- If you have a St. Clair County Library card, you can access ebooks, audio books and magazines with your library card. For the youngest readers, choose TumbleBooks (alphabetical in database list ).
- For young readers, kids.Mel.org has a section that includes story time, games and much much.
- Teen Ink is a website that features articles, books and artwork created by teens.
- Port Huron Schools Elementary buildings have subscriptions to an online reading library by level, called RAZ kids. Students were given passwords by their teachers.
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| http://www.westbanklibrary.com/sites/default/files/public/images/programs/season_reading_sign_landscape_web_pub.jpg |
Share your Snow Day Challenge celebrations by posting a picture or comment to this blog, @phschool Twitter account or Port Huron Schools Facebook page.
