Recently, a large number of students at Ridgeline High School have been marked absent because they have skipped school to go up to Beaver Mountain to ski or snowboard. The opening day of Beaver Mountain (December 8th) showed the most significant and noticeable amount of student absences. 

Kali Mann, a junior at Ridgeline High School, is one of many students who has been absent multiple times a week from school to go to the mountains, and was also at Beaver Mountain on the opening day. Kali Mann was asked questions about why she left school, and she stated that she “just really wanted to be up there to experience the opening day and see all of the snow before everyone left their mark in it.” Many of her peers had the same opinion as her. If one is listening, they can hear other students talking in the hallways about how they are planning on skipping school later in the week or even later that same day to go up to the resort to “get a few runs in” before the day ends. 

With such a large amount of students skipping school during this trimester, it leaves many wondering whether they’re all going up to Beaver Mountain or if they just do not feel like going to school. To find the answer to the question, a variety of students who have missed school multiple times a week were asked why they have been so frequently absent. More often than not, they reported that school is very repetitive and boring and that they would rather do anything than sit in a classroom and learn. Some students just stay home several times a week because they do not find school interesting, and other students during the winter skip because they find themselves having more fun on the mountain than they do getting an education.