A school in Washington state raised a few eyebrows last week when it turned the old cliché of days off for bad weather on its head, offering a “sun day” to its staff and students.
Washington state isn’t known for its sun, so when the weather is warm and clear the locals like to make the most of it. And for one school that means offering a “sun day” for its students and teachers.
According to Bob Sampson, principal of Bellingham Christian School in northern Washington, the idea was “to create that same anticipation, joy and fun” that comes with a snow day.
“I just loved that as a kid,” Sampson said. “I love it as an adult being able to cancel school due to snow. But this year there were no snow days.”
It’s a plan with precedent. In years without snow days the school can offer an alternative day off, but sitting just 40km south of the Canadian border a winter without snow isn’t too common.
Sampson said students had been anxiously awaiting the sun day since he announced it as a possibility last week, but it wasn’t guaranteed. The weather had to meet the criteria including a forecast of at least 63 degrees and plenty of sun.
Thursday was looking likely before the clouds stubbornly refused to clear, leaving many pupils disappointed, Sampson said.
To accommodate parents with unbending work schedules, Sampson and another staff member offered childcare in place of school. But by 10am on Friday morning, nobody had showed up to drop off their kids.
