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    • « Poetry: Another Way Create Shared Meaning with Kids | Home | Please Help: A Student’s Plan and What She Needs to make it Happen »

    Snow Day: Fun for Everyone?

    By Tobi Kibel Piatek | December 14, 2008

    odieinthesnow2.jpgOdie in the snow -a  black lab on a white background. A picture of happiness.

    Snow days are fun? Maybe, but maybe not.

    These days, as I write this blog, I think more and more about the challenges of kids at risk, and kids in poverty. The more I learn, the more aware I become that what I always took for granted, such as snow days are fun, is not true for every kid.

    When mykids were in school, snow days meant sleds and snowmen, hot chocolate and hot baths. Today in my neighborhood, a dozen kids, dressed in ski clothes, warm boots and hats, are building snowmen and dragging snowboards around in the well tended little park in the center of our community … definitely having fun.

    Last week, looking for inspirations for this blog, I started calling around to some of the mentor organizations in Portland, asking about plans for kids over the holiday break. I am sad to say, I learned that there is not much out there. After school programs close, mentors take a winter break, there is no school lunch, no after-school programs, no activities, no learning, and … no warm and busy school to come to. Lots of kids, I realize, will be home, some alone, some bored, some hungry, some cold …

    Today, as I enjoy the snow, and know how filled with joy kids and teachers around Portland are today, just thinking that tomorrow may be a snow day, (and only five, maybe only four more days till break)  I can’t help thinking that a snow day, or a much anticipated break from school, is not the same for everybody. Even holidays are just not as simple as black and white.

    Topics: Kids at Risk |

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