Although the winter break may have seemed a little too short for some, students and staff at William Allen White School this morning in general were happy to be back in their routine.
“It was too short but it was a nice break,” said staff member Gregoria Shrader. “And the weather — we couldn’t ask for better weather.”
First-grade teacher Stefanie Baker stood in the middle of a cluster of students who seemed to need to talk with her about the happenings of the holiday.
“I think the break was just about right,” Baker said. “I was ready to come back.”
This year’s annual holiday was only a day or two shorter than usual in the Emporia school district.
“It really depends on what day Christmas falls,” said Nancy Horst, community relations coordinator for the district.
In recent years, teachers’ time off has been one day shorter than the students’ holiday, she said. The teachers’ work day this year fell at the end of the break; sometimes it is inserted at the beginning.
“It’s just one of the things the calendar committee has to wrestle with,” Horst said. “There’s no magic formula for the break.”
For Darcy Keling, aide to the reading strategist, the time off was “way too short. I just came out from college. I’m used to a month.”
But students were ready to return.
“I wanted to come back to school,” said 7-year-old Stephanie Lopez.
Ariana Williams, 6; Hailey Peterson, 7; and Ahmad Isaiah-Scott, 7, echoed that view.
“All my friends are here,” Hailey said. “I get kinda lonely” without them.
Six-year-old Ariel Noel McKee was happy to be back in class for a different reason.
“I wanted to see my teacher, Ms. Baker,” said Ariel.
This year’s break was no shorter than normal for Brenda Zabriskie, head custodian, and her staff.
“We only get three days off during the winter break,” Zabriskie said.
But the break was far too short for Diana Hart, whose eldest son had been home from the military for a few days and left today to return to Fort Benning, Ga.
“It was very short because I had to tell Jason goodbye this morning,” Hart said.
purplelle (anonymous) says...
In the comments under the picture, shouldn't the spelling be:
National Day of mourning for Gerald Ford.....? I think you spelled morning incorrectly in this sentence.
January 3, 2007 at 3:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )