Originally, on the night of January 9th through the morning of January 10th South Carolina faced, for the first time in over half a decade, snow; however, instead on the January 21st-January 24th school and other businesses had been shut down due to a winter wonderland that truly brought in snow. 

Chapin High School, along with other elementary schools, middle, and high schools in Lexington Richland School District 5 all got out early for a half-day of school. Most schools got out at 1:05 for safety reasons in the event that the temperature was to continue dropping, however, at Chapin students were dismissed at  12:05 pm. 

Students said they enjoyed getting  out early for the snow that was expected. “I really enjoy the snow to be honest, I think when I get home I might see if I can play with my sisters. Maybe throw a snowball or two” said Vicky Summers, a sophomore at Chapin. 

On the first “snow day”  January, 9 snow was seen, but it did not accumulate. 

When referring to the first snow day, where little to no precipitation fell,  “As much as I like having a day off from school, I don’t think it was actually needed to make it a half day, we should just gone to school like normal. Nothing really happened.” said Ethan Macro, a senior at Chapin.

But the second snow day truly left a mark. Streets, houses, and cars were covered in snow and then later a coating of ice. 

“I love the snow. I was so excited to actually get to go out and play in it, but it was kind’ve disappointing considering we had like no snow at all once we got home from that first day,” said Dontae Butler, a sophomore.

Although some students preferred leaving early for their own personal safety, generally for holding classes, students thought leaving early was pointless for the first day that was called off. However, the move to end school early was understandable from a school district’s perspective. 

“I don’t really think it was necessary for a whole day to be cut in half for a little bit of snow,” said Kingston Bowers, a sophomore at Chapin. 

Students said after the Chapin area saw significant accumulation of snow, they had different views on whether it was reasonable or not  to call of school, especially because of the impact the weather left on all of South Carolina.

For a Gallery of Winter Photos, click here: Winter Weather Photo Gallery