Ann Arbor Public Schools closed. Father Gabriel Richard closed. Emerson closed. The winter storm on Jan. 25 resulted in eight inches of snow across Ann Arbor. While most schools decided to give the students an additional snow day due to the questionable road conditions, Greenhills decided to keep its doors open on Jan. 26. 

Many students grudgingly accepted that they wouldn’t have a snow day.

“I expected to wake up to a snow day so I was shocked when I found out we had to go to school today,” said Mike Lucas ‘24. “I was even more surprised when I found out that every other school in Ann Arbor had a snow day.”

Students were disappointed and hoped to have a day of fun in the snow. 

“It was our first real snowfall of the year, for the first time in a while we had enough accumulation to go outside and sled,” said Lucas. 

Even though the school did not give the students their day of fun in the snow, the students decided they would bring their Gryphon day back to the school. 

“I was gonna sled today whether the school gave me a snow day or not, so when I learned we would have school today the first thing I did was put my sleds in the trunk of my car,” said Charles Branch ‘24. 

Students found a small, but steep slope outside of the senior and junior forums where they could have their fun. 

“As soon as I saw Charles with sleds I ran to the top of the slope to get in line to go down once,” said Graeme Jagger ‘23. “I didn’t even care that I would get wet and dirty, the fun was worth the tradeoff.”

Students began to modify the slope to make the sledding experience more interesting. 

“We grabbed snow in our hands and with the sleds we made a mini jump at the bottom of the slope,” said Jared Ge ‘23. “The slope was definitely small, but it added more thrill to the slope, it was also kind of a challenge to aim for. 

Since it was a small slope, students decided to make the experience more exciting by inventing different ways to go down the slope. 

“I snowboard often so I decided to try and use the sled as a snowboard,” said Ge. “At first it was difficult and I face planted a few times, but eventually I was able to reach the bottom of the slope and go off the jump.”

While the slopes were dominated by the students, many faculty members could not resist joining in on the fun.

“Seeing Dr. Lund and Mr. Huntoon sled down the slopes made my day,” said Devyn McGow ‘23. “It was great to see the teachers enjoying the snow with the students, that is one of the things I hope to see more at Greenhills.”

By the end of the day there were two snowmen on the school grounds, and the slope outside the junior forum had become a mudslide. 

“It was fun having something to do during my free period and lunch, I definitely will be doing this the next time we have snowfall.