When 12-year-old Emily Beckman’s teacher asked her to name the “the greatest invention ever created by humans,” she replied: “Snow days.”
So when she learned that her Colorado school district had changed its weather cancellation policy to transform some snow days into virtual learning days, she decided to fight back.
“You get to sleep in till, like, 10 a.m. if you’re that tired, and you get to read books and cuddle with your pets, go outside sledding [and have] snowball fights,” the Grade 6 student from Colorado Springs  told As It Happens host Nil KÓ§ksal.
“And when you come back in, you get hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream.”
Emily’s online petition asking Academy School District 20 (D20) to re-instate “traditional” snow days in full has garnered more than 3,000 signatures in the last two weeks.
D20 did not respond to a CBC request for comment, but a spokesperson told Chicago Public Radio and the Denver Gazette newspaper that the district is “committed to regularly reviewing feedback and adapting to meet the needs of our students, staff, and community.”
A pandemic switch to online learning
The shift to online classes during hazardous weather conditions is not unique to Emily’s school district.Â
According to a survey by Education Week, a school news magazine in the U.S., 39 per cent of the nation’s school districts ditched weather cancellations for e-learning in 2020, when pandemic lockdowns meant online classes were the norm.Â
Some Canadian school districts have adopted similar policies, though it varies by province and district.
Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba all leave it up to school boards to determine their own policies. Several in Ontario have dropped snow days for virtual learning, including in Waterloo, London, and Toronto. In January, when a storm hit southern Alberta, some schools outside of Calgary switched to online classes.Â
Nova Scotia, meanwhile, says it continues to cancel all classes when the weather calls for it. And when a storm hit P.E.I. in February, most schools closed.Â
School districts across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley announced closures due to snowfall on Wednesday morning. During the snow day, many took to local parks and hills for a day of sledding and building snowmen.
According to the Denver Gazette, D20 also changed its snow day policies in August 2020. Under the current rules, the first two weather cancellations days of the school year are traditional snow days, while any subsequent ones are virtual learning for kids in middle school and up.Â
Emily’s school — Discovery Canyon Campus — already shut down for multiple days during a storm earlier this month, which means no more snow days this school year.
Online learning, she says, is decidedly less magical.
“Now it’s having to wake up at my usual time for school and sadly not getting to sleep in. It’s also making sure that my mic works and my camera works,” she said. “And when I log on, we usually have to do mic checks and it takes like 10 minutes to do attendance.”
‘We should start a protest’
Emily says she and her friends were lamenting the squashing of snow days when she piped up: “You know what we do? We should start a protest.”
“And so we did,” she said.
Her petition, hosted on Change.org, reads: “We ask kids to grow up way too fast in the name of efficiency. We often forget how foundational childhood experiences like playing in the snow, going sledding, building a snowman, or helping the older neighbors shovel are to their development. “
She’s aiming to hit 5,000 signatures.
The school district, meanwhile, argues that by switching to e-learning after the first two snow days, schools can better plan ahead and ensure they don’t have to extend the school year in order to meet their educational requirements.
Emily argues that the district already has six now days built into its calendar, and it should reinstate them. If it goes beyond six, she says, then e-learning can be an option.
Not only is that more fun, she argues — it’s healthy. Her petition references a 2018 study from the American Academy of Pediatrics that says play-time is important for children’s emotional, physical and mental wellbeing.
It’s also, she says, good for the staff.
“All of my teachers agree with it. They say that they like the idea that they’re going to have an extra day to catch up on work or play in the snow themselves,” she said.
An activist spirit
Emily is no stranger to taking action when she thinks something should change.
“One time in third grade when we were, like, playing tag or dodge ball in [gym class], the boys were being really aggressive, and me and my friends thought that wasn’t, like, OK, for them to do,” she said.
“We did a month of protesting until finally they’re just like, ‘Hey, if you guys stop protesting, then we will be more nice and considerate.”
She’s hopeful she can convince the district to reconsider its policy, though she admits they might not bend as easily as Grade 3 boys.
“We, like, won’t be sore losers and we’ll just, I don’t know, maybe try again in a few years and just try to make the best out of regular e-learning days,” she said.