As students watched the snow fall on Sunday, one common question came to mind: will there be school tomorrow?

The answer was no; Monday would be a snow day extending District 7’s already-long winter break. 

Compared to last year’s 13 days off, the students and staff planned on spending an extra three days this year on break. But due to the unexpected snow storm, they have spent three weeks away from school.

“I really enjoyed having the extra days off,” junior Genny Burroughs said. “I got to go sledding with my entire family.”

As many spent the day playing in the snow with friends and family, the excitement of having a snow day was felt through all grade levels.

Senior Addyson Moore spent her extra day catching up on scholarship applications. Moore said she was really happy to have an extension on an already long break.

“[A longer break] meant I could sleep in more, instead of doing homework,” Moore said.

Besides catching up on sleep, Moore spent time with her friends over the break.

“I got to go to the mall, out to eat and generally got to hang out with my close friends. It was really nice because we didn’t have to wake up the next day and go to school,” Moore said.

Other seniors, like Sammy Kourinos, used the long break to spend time doing activities she hadn’t had time for during school.

“I got to spend my break doing whatever I wanted to do without the stress of school, it was so nice,” Kourinos said.

Unlike the majority of students, Kourinos said that while she was happy to have a long break, she felt it was too long.

“The past week, I’ve been stuck at home, and it made me realize that I cannot be doing nothing for so long,” Kourinos said.

For freshman Tim Swaim, the high school break felt different than his previous middle school break.

“You don’t have finals in middle school, so the long high school break felt more rewarding to me,” Swaim said.

Swaim felt that the stress of completing six finals in three days only made the winter break more exciting for him.

Swaim, like Burroughs, spent the break with his family but traveled to Wisconsin. 

“I enjoyed the long break because I got to spend more time with my family, mainly my sisters,” Burroughs said.

Instead of returning on Monday, like originally, students and staff are spending the first week of the semester online.

“Having Tuesday online made me realize I would just rather go in person,” Kourinos said. “Elearning is getting annoying because I don’t want to do pointless schoolwork.”

Kourinos, like many, is ready to return back to school but fellow senior Moore prefers staying online and is not looking forward to returning on Monday.

“I’m not looking forward to waking up at the crack of dawn but I’m excited to graduate and see my friends again,” Moore said.