![Mrs. Miller works in the guidance office. With all the many duties of her position she is working as the secretary for the guidance office. "[She] may change every period to a different class," Principal Scott Hinton said.](https://blueacemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/sub-photo-1200x869.jpg)
BY LUKE BAUER (’15)
If you haven’t heard by now, one high school student started a petition shortly after the Buckeyes won the Sugar Bowl Game in attempt to convince Governor Kasich to cancel schools statewide on January 13, the day after the 2015 inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship.
Unfortunately for students, and despite the thousands of signatures on the petition, no action was taken, and school is on as scheduled. Now, let’s take a minute and discuss why school should have been canceled.
The run time of last night’s game was just under four hours, not including post-game interviews and ceremonies. With an 8:30 start time, the game finished well after midnight. With so much excitement from a national championship game, few students would be willing to go to bed midway through the third quarter. At 1 am, the true end to the game and celebration, students faced a short seven hours, not including the time it takes to get ready or for transportation, before school begins.
This short period of time is not enough for students to get a good night’s sleep in order to be well prepared for the day ahead. Students need at least eight hours, not six. A delay would have fixed this issue, but nothing was done.
The argument does not end here, however. The second reason schools should have been closed is because of the weight and excitement of the game. The Ohio State Buckeyes have not won a national championship since 2002, and not participated since 2007. Nearly every college sports fan in the central Ohio region were cheering on the Buckeyes last night, and the victory should be celebrated. Rather than upset the fans and make them go to school early the next day, we should give them a day to celebrate, relax and recover.
The magnitude of the game, along with the struggles of sleep and focus at school the next day, are great reasons why the students should have been given a free day instead of attending classes. One day in a 180 day school year would not make much difference in the end, and it would pay dividends for the students.
This day does not come around often, and when the home-town team wins such a huge game, the people should celebrate the achievement, look up to the athletes who accomplished such a goal, and declare a statewide holiday.
