DCDS students are known to use their resources wisely, and consequently, almost everyone has the “Snow Day Calculator” bookmarked as one of their most frequently visited sites during the winter season. Students spend hours looking at the week’s forecast and staying up all night following pre-snow day rituals like the snow day dance, flushing ice cubes down the toilet, and putting a spoon under the pillow. So much time and effort is put into hoping for a snow day that when it finally comes, the day is anticlimactic because often times students do not have a snow day schedule planned out. To avoid having an eventless day off, this list can be used as a guide to make the best of the most anticipated days of the year:
Study Time: Snow days are the perfect time to catch up on any material missed during the week, and to work ahead to avoid the chaos and high stress levels of the next few days. While studying, be sure to take short breaks every half hour to stretch, hydrate, eat, or just to relax. The free time is also a great opportunity to clean out binders, folders, and notebooks, and to organize papers by class and topic. Time management is key, and it may not sound appealing to study on a snow day, but when report cards come out with glowing grades, all of the work will have paid off.
Just Chilling: There is no going wrong with a lazy day at home, curled up in front of the T.V with a remote in one hand and a warm cup of hot cocoa in the other. Watch some classic holiday movies like; A Christmas Story, Elf, or Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Starting on December 1st, the channel “Freeform,” previously known as “ABC Family” will be putting on 25 consecutive days of holiday-themed programming leading up to Christmas Day, so putting on that channel is another great way to relax and get into the holiday spirit on a snow day. Another great pastime during snow days is to listen to some music, whether from the iTunes Top 100 chart, or a Christmas station on the radio.
Outdoor fun: Another fun way to de-stress from the rigorous DCDS lifestyle is to play outside in the snow. Having a snowball fights, making snow angels, and building snowmen bring out the inner child in every student. For the thrill-seekers, snowboarding, skiing, and sledding are perfect options. Popular skiing and snowboarding destinations close to the Metro Detroit area include Alpine Valley, Pine Knob, and Mount Holly. For sledding, there are so many options all around Michigan. Some of the most popular hills for DCDS students to visit are the hills in Franklin as well as the big hill behind the West Bloomfield Public Library. While participating in these activities, the social butterflies of the school can also be sure to take pictures of all of their winter adventures for a cute Instagram or Snapchat post.
Rest up: At DCDS, the word “sleep” is rarely heard of. Students often disregard the number of daily hours of sleep recommended. While eight to nine hours of sleep is recommended for a fully functioning teenager, most students are lucky to get seven or eight hours. Procrastinating gets the best of everyone on those nights before a paper is due. Students should not take snow days for granted and should take advantage of the amazing opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. The chance for extra rest does not come around very often, so the time must be used wisely.
