On Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, LHS experienced its first (and probably last) snow day of the school year. One might think, “what a wonderful break for the students!” However, they would be mistaken. What would have been a nice day to rest from grinding schoolwork a few years ago instead became a “virtual learning day.” Although students were given assignments to complete at home, the whole day was not squandered by the interruption of new projects. Let’s take a look at how the students stayed occupied during their day of online school.
Although it might be preferable to have total freedom, the workload was less than that of a normal school day. This allowed students like Ashlyn Dejong to get work done quickly and have more choice in how they stayed occupied. When it only takes two or three hours to complete what usually takes up to seven hours, that extra time given back is enough to be productive by working out, socializing or even getting some rest and alone time.
“I woke up at 10:30 a.m. and went onto Canvas. I got my schoolwork done in less than two hours, so definitely way less time than it would have taken for school in person,” said Dejong. “ After I did my assignments, I laid in my bed for about an hour. I eventually went to the gym and later to my friend’s house.”
Without the required 8 a.m. attendance for first period, students had the option to wake up late and take the day at their own pace. Sophomore Shafi Pervez made the most out of his day with the flexible schedule.
“Basically, I woke up at 11:30 a.m., [so that was] half my day gone,” said Pervez. “I did all the usual morning stuff, ate breakfast, then turned on my computer and sighed. Opening Canvas on a snow day felt so odd because I never did that before. I checked all my assignments for the day. [My workload] was pretty low-key, just a vocab quiz and some videos to watch, [so I was] super free. But then, [for] Spanish, I had to make a video. I was home alone, so I was cooked. I drew my family on paper, pretended they were there and made most of the video. I couldn’t finish the whole thing since I had lunch planned with a friend at 1:00 p.m. We went to Chili’s; it was both our first time going there, and it was fire. Then I came back home and didn’t even try to finish Spanish because I also had an online debate tournament later that day at 5 p.m.. I had to prepare a couple hours before then, so I was fully fried for finishing that Spanish video. As you can imagine, I didn’t finish Spanish until Sunday, more than two days after it was assigned, but it’s alright because I still got marked present for the online learning day. Surprisingly, I didn’t play any video games, though the night before I was up till around 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. playing, so it made up for the zero hours of gaming during the snow day. In the end, they called it remote learning, but I didn’t really learn anything.”
While all LHS students worked from home, everyone spent the day differently, and there were plenty of options for how extra time was used. Some spent the day with friends and family, some spent the day alone at home and some went out to shop or eat, but junior Emerson Weber did it all.
“After sleeping in, I woke up around 9 a.m., then I baked blueberry muffins and made taco bowls for lunch. At around 12:30 p.m. I went to about three different stores looking for NeeDohs and then got Starbucks. I did a little schoolwork, but I got bored, so I organized and rearranged my room and then had a mid-day movie night watching ‘Interstellar’ with my little brother,” said Weber.
LHS junior Maku Adriano also had a busy day, proving that a lot can be done in a short amount of time.
“During the online day, I slept in for a few hours,” said Adriano. “I did my APUSH quiz (which I did badly on), took a nap, and when I woke up, I went to the gym to get a quick lift in before I had jazz rehearsal at 4 p.m.. After coming home from that, I actually turned in early and fell asleep at like 8 p.m..”
When looking at the day well spent, it is easy to wonder if this virtual learning experience served any purpose.
“It was beneficial in the aspect that we won’t have to have a makeup day for it since it wasn’t an official snow day, but I didn’t really learn much. It was basically short reviews, and what I did learn I didn’t understand as much as I would’ve in class, so it wasn’t useful in that way,” said Weber.
Not being able to ask teachers for help in person takes away from the value of the lessons; however, some people work better with the online aspect of school. Adriano found this environment suitable for learning.
“I think it was beneficial to have in place, and some things like time limits on assignments made it so kids actually got their work done instead of blowing it off, like my APUSH quiz,” said Adriano. “I like online work because it’s easier for me to go at my own pace and get everything done on my own time, but it has its own problems with time management and accountability.”
Pushing through a few short assignments is worth it because the day will not have to be made up at the end of the year. Despite the drawbacks to virtual learning, the online day provided an opportunity for students to have a flexible schedule and a slight break from the normal routine.
