When the sky fills with dark clouds and gusty winds, Floridians know a storm is coming. However, Hurricane Hermine wasn’t the regular rainfall that Florida experiences many, many, many times a year. Hermine was the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since 2005. With the threat of Hurricane Hermine heading to the Pinellas County area, the Pinellas County School Board made a decision to close schools on September 1^st and 2^nd. The announcement about closing school on Thursday, September 1^st was communicated during 6^th period on Wednesday, the 31^st of August. When weather conditions didn’t improve on Thursday, the decision was made to keep schools closed on Friday as well.

These unexpected hurricane days left students with some free time on their hands. “I caught up on my sleep” says Taylor Vickers, 9^th grade. Kyla Feld, a junior, states that during those hurricane days she “slept a lot and went to the beach”. Other students like Jeremy Hartog, a senior, said “I went surfing”. Kellen Keglor, 12^th also remarked that he “surfed every day”. There was a serious side to the storm however. News reports showed damaged homes and flooded areas around Pinellas County that were affected by Hurricane Hermine.

Even though some were glad to have this unexpected time off, there was talk of having to make-up these days possibly during the Thanksgiving break. However, the School Board made a choice on Thursday, September 15, that students would not have to make-up those days. Still, there is always the chance of another storm since the hurricane season does not end until November 30.