With the recent temperatures of -15 degree weather, the Francis Howell School District, along with many others, decided to cancel school on Friday, Jan. 8. After large quantities of snow and bad road conditions on the Jan. 7, temperatures dropped to dangerous conditions. According to fhsdschools.org, if it is possible for students to get frostbite in under 30 minutes then schools must close.

The district cautions students to dress warmly and to not spend extended amounts of time outdoors. In fact, according to medicalnewstoday.com, frostbite can occur rapidly in below 0 degree weather, and even faster with wind chill. It states that because “intense cold has a chilling effect, the skin and tissues of a person’s extremities may freeze without them even knowing it.”

Frostbite may not be the case for most students, but the chance of getting a cold seriously increases the more the temperatures decrease.

“There’s no way I’m going outside in this cold weather,” said senior Shannon Poston. “I went outside Friday and I was bundled up, but I still got a pretty nasty cold.”

However, the cold isn’t effecting everybody in the medical sense; for some students like junior Ethan Steller, the anticipation of going out in the cold is enough to make him think about whether he should even come to school in the morning.

“Some mornings, I wake up and and wonder why we even have school because it’s so cold outside,” said Steller. “I debate about whether it’s worth it to come to school.”

Whatever the effect may be, the temperatures are staying low and will continue to affect students until we see some days with balmy weather.