Winter still hanging on!

It's April 1 and we are supposed to get another WINTER storm this weekend. We have had a few storms in March. So let me tell you our story from the Mar. 11 -Friday storm.

At 1:00 Superintendent says over the intercom that we will be out of school at 1:30. At 1:10 he says: Sorry folks we are not going anywhere, and we are finishing out the school day. OH BOY!!! The wind howled, and the pelleting snow hit the windows so hard- total white out conditions. At one time I looked out the front door of the school and all you could see was the nose of the bus that was parked right out front.

Well at 3:15 we start sending kids to storm homes in town on the bus-even if they lived next door to the school. There were about 26 kids and 10 adults that stayed at the school for the duration. The kids and I have a storm home- JoyAnn, our librarian aide/good friend that we stay with on a regular basis, but we didn't go over there after school. I wanted to work on our Acalympic night (question bee like event) that was Monday. So Andrew and I stayed at the school for a while and thought we would walk over (just across the street) later.

I called over to Kathleen's (daycare), and she said that it was impossible to come get Grace. Another mom had tried, gotten stuck, and turned around and went home. Even Kathleen’s husband at the gas station in town was not coming home. So Grace was going to spend the night at daycare with three other little girls who just happen to live in town too.

At about 9:00 I thought we could try to get to JoyAnn's, but our 3-4 Gr. teacher, a six foot four guy and very fit, walked home -two houses from the school to get blankets for everyone. He said it was impossible to walk and impossible to see. YUK- I didn't think Andrew and I should try it.

Andrew and I were to sleep (kind of) at the school along with the 36 or so others. Andrew was actually supposed to spend the night at a classmate’s birthday sleepover so he had pjs and extra clothes. He actually changed into his pjs and made himself right at home- leaving his superman underwear in the hallway for all to see. The kids were so well behaved and slept pretty well.

This photo was taken at about 11:30 by a fellow teacher as the storm was letting up.


Everyone in North Dakota has stories to tell of the March, 11 Storm of 2011. The National Guard rescued over 800 motorists stranded on I-94, I-29, and HWY 83 that night. From the stories I have heard there were just as many people stranded on side roads and gravel roads that night too.




Again photo by a fellow teacher in the early morning hours- 6-7 am. (There is a weird reflection of an inside door on the left.)

We are so thankful - that it was clear in the morning (not a three dayer), we didn't lose power, and that parents were digging out to come get the kids at the school that morning. Everyone was gone from the school by 11:00 or so Saturday. The other co-cordinator of Acalympics and I worked until about 4:00. I know I spend a lot of time at the school but 31 hours straight is ridiculous.

We have had an early dismissal at 10:30 and a storm day since the Mar. 11 storm. Will Winter ever end? Any way think SPRING really hard and maybe it will happen. It has been a long winter- first snow day with no school was Oct. 27. We will see what this Sunday-Tuesday storm brings.