With the forecast for Tuesday’s Nor’easter rising from 14 inches to 17 inches and then further upwards within the school day, leading to the cancelation of school for Tuesday before Monday was even over, the talk of students and staff alike centered on the trials they had faced previously in the past two storms. While power outages crippled the Tri-Towns and affected all ages, the high school community was uniquely affected by the storm’s side effects.
Students stared out the windows in classes that Friday, March 2, as the rain grew heavier and the wind whipped harder against the school. The phrase, “I don’t want to drive home in this,” became more frequent as the day went on, especially amongst the newer drivers and those planning to ride busses home.
Multiple announcements made during the last period of the day sent older siblings scurrying through the halls to inform younger students that, yes, they would be driven home in cars since more than three Rochester and Marion bus routes were already blocked from reaching destinations.
“The bus drivers did an extremely good job of getting us back home,” said freshman Lucy Zhang, who lives in Rochester. “We had to stop and turn around multiple times because of fallen trees or branches. Other bus drivers were able to radio our driver (the awesome Miss Beverly), so we were able to safely reroute.”
“There was a power line fire on Mattapoisett Neck Road, and it kept me from getting home after school,” junior Sophia Clingman stated.
English teacher Meredith Wickman was one of the teachers who gave homework extensions.
“I was thinking of how I couldn’t access technology and that my students wouldn’t be able to either. I had to go to Starbucks to post updates to my Google Classrooms. My twelfth-grade classes had senior project articles due and freshmen had their epics due in the same time span, but both had their due dates pushed back several days to make up for power outages.”
Zhang was one of the freshmen who had her epic (a long adventure story) due date extended. “Many of my classes have homework that’s online or needs the Internet to complete, so it was quite challenging to do it without any WiFi. We didn’t get power back until Tuesday.”
“My house lost power that Friday and didn’t get it back until Tuesday,” added senior Evan Costa, also from Rochester. “It made working on schoolwork tough. I had to travel to friends’ houses once they got power back so I could charge my computer and finish several online assignments.”
Between bucketing water out of the cellar and keeping the generator going, said Costa, “I really didn’t have much time to do anything for school till we got everything under control. It was a stroke of luck that we didn’t have school that Monday.”
Ainslee Bangs of Rochester experienced a further problem that struck many students.
“When I got my power back, I had no Internet or cable connection so I couldn’t check to see what my math homework was, and I couldn’t study for my psychology test. However, my street had a little party outside when no one had power and there was a bonfire and food and it was really fun.”
As the winter season winds down and yet strong storms keep slamming the surrounding area, it is important to keep in mind that the safety of students and their families comes before the stress of finishing schoolwork, as it was for Winter Storms Quinn and Riley (and now Skylar). This especially holds true in regards to online work, which may be beneficial for most of the year, but can be negatory for snow or power outage no-school days.
ORR Update
By Jo Caynon