Prior to the days of COVID-19, snow days served as a way to keep students safe as well as a way for students to decompress from their regular stressful routines.  With regards to both of these issues, a snow day for Regis High School on January 7, 2022 is essential to the well being of the Regis community as a whole, both students and faculty the same.  Having to learn on Zoom since December has had quite a negative effect on the student body as a whole.  Students are required to sit in stationary positions all day while being locked up in one room without having face-to-face interactions for hours at a time.  According to Tulane University, this can lead to mental health issues like depression.  In keeping with the Jesuit tradition of "Cura Personalis," it is essential that students and teachers alike get off Zoom as soon as possible, and a break from it tomorrow is exactly what the community needs.

       Additionally, snow has been known to cause power outages, especially in places such as Long Island, Westchester, or New Jersey, in which many of the power lines are above ground, and thus, quite susceptible to damage.  There were already some students and teachers on January 6th with power issues or poor connection issues who had atrocious connections issues all day and found it incredibly difficult to connect successfully to their classes on Zoom, providing for much wasted class time.  This circumstance is all too common in Zoom classes, and snow would do nothing but hinder the experience of learning and waste precious class time.

       Finally, COVID-19 has taken away many traditions from us, and we cannot let snow days be another thing that is ruined by the pandemic.  In the Jesuit spirit of valuing tradition, it is essential to keep with traditions that have existed for generations - snow days included among these.  

In conclusion, a snow day is crucial to the mental health status of the Regis community, and fulfills the Jesuit value of tradition as well as the "Cura Personalis."