Snow Day!

In today's post, Mr. Turner '00 fondly recalls a memorable sitcom episode, polls Prep students and staff on how they spent their time off, and thinks about the summer.

"I gotta study, man." - Bart Simpson

742 Evergreen Terrace

An early evening ritual at the Turner house circa 1994-2000 was watching reruns of The Simpsons. Yesterday, while digging out two cars and shoveling several neighborhood sidewalks, I recalled an early episode called "Bart Gets an F". Here's the gist of Season Two's poignant and, at times, spiritual opener: Bart's feeble oral book report on Treasure Island prompts Mrs. Krabappel to ask a question that he can't answer correctly. Ever the vigilant and caring educator, Mrs. K warns Bart - and eventually Homer and Marge - that continued poor performance might result in his having to repeat fourth grade (I know, I know, Bart's been in fourth grade for 20 years). It gets to the point where Bart prays and asks God for a miracle so he can have more time to study. Bart's prayer is answered - Springfield is walloped by a serious and unexpected winter storm (was it named Janus?) forcing his school's closure. Bart, who can't wait to go sledding and build forts, immediately forgets that God has answered his prayer. But Lisa, his sister, does not. She tells Bart that she heard his prayer and that Bart "owes Him big."

I couldn't help thinking if some of our students were either grateful for more time to prepare for their Latin and History exams, or frustrated with the Good Lord for delaying the inevitable. I also asked my co-workers what they did during their snow days. Here's what I learned:

Mr. Scannapieco '09 - Alumni Service Corps

"My roommates (fellow members of the ASC) and I painted our dining room, 2-3 coats. Trim and everything."

Ms. Mascio - Admission Office

"I caught up on plenty of guilty pleasure TV."

Mrs. McKenna - Admission Office

"I'm moving next week, so I packed up my whole house."

Mr. McCloskey '91 - Admission Office

"Lots of snow-blowing then sledding at The Willows."

Andrew Hayn '15

"I was in Ontario for the weekend, so having Tuesday off was nice. But on Wednesday I just stewed."

Joe Egler '16

"It was helpful to have a little extra time to look over my notes and prepare, so I'm grateful."



If all this talk of snow and the polar vortex makes you think about summer, take a look at our summer programs at the Prep. And let us know in the comments how you spent your snow day.

This blog post was written by Mr. Ed Turner '00, Director of Admission.