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Time off can take its toll
While everybody loves an unexpected day off now and then, hurricane days come with a price: makeup days and household chores.
By JANE McINNIS
Published September 13, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Hurricane Charley. One day out of school.
Hurricane Frances. Two or more days out. Now there is Hurricane Ivan, and students from one Pasco County school are getting a stale feeling after all the time spent inside watching endless weather briefs.
Up north, students have snow days. In Florida, we have hurricane days. Either way, it's time off. "You can't go out swimming or play outside - it's a waste," said Brian Wisner, 11, a sixth-grader at River Ridge Middle School in New Port Richey. After a weekend of being restricted indoors, Brian decided to venture outside regardless of the rain. "I wanted to see what happened in the neighborhood."
Some kids were a little more apprehensive. "I've had a tree fall in my room and I get worried about my pets and family, with the trees," said Joey Bariso, 11, also a sixth-grader at River Ridge. "I'd never been in a storm like Hurricane Frances, and it was a new experience for me."
Students are always filled with glee when they get an unexpected day off, but the thought of making up those days lurks behind the fun. "I don't really want to make up the days at the end of school, so it's kind of good but kind of bad," said George Evans, 13, an eighth-grader at River Ridge Middle.
And for these days off from school, nature seems to assume payment.
"My yard is a mess. Moss and twigs," Brian said. "I had to rake up some of it."
With gusty winds, the hurricanes cleaned our trees, but dirtied our yards. "I think it's fun that we don't have school," Joey said, "but then we have work - like chores and picking up the branches."
Students in Pasco went back to school Wednesday after a Labor Day weekend made two days longer because of Hurricane Frances.
"You know, another hurricane is coming," Brian said, already thinking about another day off.
- Jane McInnis, 16, is in the 11th grade at River Ridge High in New Port Richey.
