Snow Day: New Communication Tactics

As communication challenges grow each winter, Loveland Schools have decided to think boldly- some may even say absurdly, or magically- about how to alert students of a snow day. With the winter season now in full swing, the possibility of a snow day is growing. In fact, The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts a very cold and snowy winter for Ohio’s 2025-2026 season. Power outages and dead phones are a recurrence when it comes to communicating about snow days via text, email, or call. Keeping this in mind, our superintendent, Mike Broadwater, has developed several new means for communicating when a snow day is called, two of which are especially otherworldly.

The first peculiar communication method is taking a Harry Potter-esque approach, using animals to communicate from a distance. In Harry Potter, owls are commonly used to transport letters; however, Mr. Broadwater has added a Loveland twist and instead will use tiger cubs with letters attached to their collars to communicate when there is a snow day. This is expected to go into effect after Loveland’s Christmas break.

Some people may have various questions regarding this method, such as whether these tiger cubs will be trained, where they will be stored, and how Loveland will pay for the exotic animals, all of which are very insightful questions. When Mr. Broadwater was asked those questions, he respectfully answered that the tiger cubs will be programmed with a chip that will enable them to have innate skills for proper behavior and knowing where to go. He then explained that the tiger cubs will be stored in a small barn next to the pool on the top floor of the school and that students will have to pay a minimal fee of $10,000 per cub. All of these answers seem very reasonable and illustrate the immense thought and dedication that have gone into this strenuous process of planning for the next snow day.

The other form of communication planned by Mr. Broadwater is a Batman-like symbol projected into the sky. Instead of having the typical symbol of a bat with a yellow background, the symbol is instead of the Loveland City School District logo found on the back of students’ Chromebooks and their Chromebook background. This will be projected from Tiger Stadium and will have the ability to be seen from a 20 mile radius. This projector will be donated using money from the Tiger Ball, and will be free of cost for students.

With this solution being more cost-effective, it is desired by many of the students in Loveland; however some problems may arise in the case of a dead projector battery, somehow making the tiger cubs the most efficient and reliable source of communication about a snow day.

Overall, with the rising possibility of snow in the Loveland community, a wide variety of different techniques will need to be taken into consideration to ensure the best possible outcome with communication in the face of a snow day.