Earlier this week, a snowstorm hit the southeast region of the U.S. harder than many had initially expected; Atlanta, GA, in particular, was hit pretty hard.
As the storm moved in, traffic worsened and some students were forced to spend the night at school. Georgia’s East Rivers Elementary School principal, Matt Rogers, made sure it was a night his students would never forget.
Ninety-four students and thirty-one adults spent Tuesday night sleeping on floors, gym mats, coats and whatever else they could find until it was safe to leave school grounds. The kids watched “Free Willy” while eating popcorn followed by pizza for dinner in the cafeteria. Wednesday morning, they woke up to a breakfast of french toast sticks and fruit before enjoying a snowball fight outside.
“Our beautiful little snow flurries at 12, 12:30 turned into a fast-moving snow incident and we ended up having a lot of our kids that are bus riders and car riders stuck here at school with us,” Rogers said. “We had a snowcation. A little, mini snow vacation overnight.”
While most kids enjoyed their evening and fell asleep around 10 p.m., a few of the younger kids were upset about being away from home and their families. Most of the teachers stayed awake comforting students, making sure they were warm and managing phone calls to and from the school as kids were allowed to call home whenever they wanted.
“It was just something you sign up for when you become a teacher,” said Lindsay Treharne, 34, who slept for about 90 minutes Tuesday night on her classroom floor. “You’ll take care of your children whenever necessary.”
Continue reading more on their “snowcation” on TODAY Moms.
BMWK–Were you or your children affected by the recent snow and ice storm? What did you do to pass the time and turn it into a positive experience?