As the Holidays came and passed, schools all over the country were getting ready to celebrate a big day. That day would just happen to be the 100th day of school. Many schools make a big deal in January about the 100th day of school. Normal schools around this area go to school for 180 days, so the 100th day means there are only 80 days left of the school year.
Thinking back to when I was in elementary school, the teachers would have kids bring a hundred of 'something' in and share it with the class. One year I took 100 in cotton balls, and another year I took 100 pennies (I remember I was in 1st grade and counted out all 100 pennies). I didn’t ask for help because I thought I was a big girl, and wanted to act like a bank teller. I still remember one kid brought in 100 M&M’s to share with the class, but he got hungry and started eating them...by his turn for show and tell there were only 10 left.
As we celebrated the 100th day of school, I remember teachers giving us coloring sheets to color, and even giving us a special treat. The special treat could have been brownies, cup cakes or even a piece of candy. Treats during school were a big deal.
As I grew up and moved on to high school, and even as I graduated, my teachers hardly made any effort to celebrate that special day. They would just start a count down from 80 to 0, telling the kids and themselves how many days of school were left. As I think back, none of my high school teachers did anything special on the 100th day of school. I think it might be because the teachers think we are in high school and not elementary school, and that high school students may get bored if they have to color and share a 100 things with their classmates. I think teachers could make it more fun by putting it into their lesson plan somehow, like in English having students write 100 words they said in the last day. That is tricky, and makes you think a little, right?
Now that I am a college student, we don’t go to school for 180 days. We go by semesters or tri- semesters, and both students and professors look forward to the end of the semester. The students get two weeks or even a month off in between semesters, and the professor doesn’t have to bury themselves in piles of papers that need graded. So, counting to the 100th day of school in college is sort of hard. To help keep track, I make a countdown of how many classes I have left, and have found that to help me through some of my harder classes.
As the special 100th day of school comes near, I hope everyone has a wonderful day of school. Celebrate the school year being almost over, meaning another year to put in the record books!!
