photo by Tracy Scherzer
Although the snow didn’t last for very long, students were still able to bundle up, run outside and have themselves a good old fashioned snowball fight. -
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 By Devin Williams
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Having not snowed during the holiday season, Mother Nature is quickly compensating, and with a vengeance.
The past two weeks have shown the most amount of snow this winter has seen and produced treacherous consequences.
Tuesday, February 6 began as a regular cold morning, but escalated into a fury of flurries. During school hours, snow began pouring down from the gods in heavy clumps, and hastily accumulated.
Weather channels spouted out early closings right and left, starting at 11 a.m., but for some reason, OCHS wasn’t on the bandwagon.
The fresh powder piled up fast, and a wave of uneasiness washed through parents and the student body.
At 2:30, the administration announced they would be letting student drivers out at 2:40 and car riders needed to contact their pickup for a quick escape.
Worst of all, some bus riders were not released untill 3:35, giving the snow more time to layer and further endanger the lives of the students.
Unfortunately, the administration was too late: the snow had done what it intended, and traps were laid for the students.
On the car ride home, many students incurred a series of accidents, including junior Chris Downey.
“While I was on winding roads, a woman in front of me was turning into her driveway and hit her breaks. Without time to react, I slammed my breaks with no avail, and my car slid into the back of hers, damaging both our vehicles,” he said
This is one of many student related automobile accidents, all resulting from piled-up snow on the roads.
On the unplowed roads, vehicles slid around turning a two lane highway into a half-ton, fiberglass bowling match.
When trying to exit the parking lots, students were sliding all over the pavement, escalating a simple fleeing flight from school into a raging bumper car showdown.
All of this commotion and chaos was caused from a lack of an early dismissal plan on the district’s part.
In a state of confusion at the onset of snow, without a set operation in motion, the school in effect had doomed its students to a harsh ride home.