THE BEST SCHOOL CLOSING CALL EVER
Hi! James Rabe from the KROC Early Morning Show here. First, thanks to Alan for letting Cori and me fill in while he's off killin' stuff. This is my first time bloggin', so be kind. I'm writing this while on the air, and with all the snow and the incomming school delays, I'm reminded of the Best School Closing Call of All Time.
About two years ago it was a madhouse...school superintendants
calling in cancelations, our interns were racing around delivering the information to all the stations in the building (here at Cumulus Rochester we have 6 radio stations in one building), constant updating of kroc.com, the studio line was ringing off the hook...you know, general mayhem.To find out the status of their school, many many people go to the School Closing page on kroc.com (a lot of people also check out the KROC Ladies Night Pictures, too). Still, though, a lot of people call the KROC Early Morning Show for the info, which is cool. We love talking to our listeners. On snow days, the calls are usually sound like this,
Caller: Is (insert school here) closed?
Me or Cori: Yep.
Caller: Ok, thanks!
Once, though...a call was a little more involved...
Me: Hi, KROC...
Caller: Yeah, is my school closed?
Me: Which school do you go to?
Caller: (already frustrated) John Adams!
Me: Oh, well...Rochester Public and Private schools are closed.
Caller: (confused) So...is John Adams closed?
Me: Well...all Rochester Public and Private schools are closed.
Caller: (frustrated again) So, is JA closed?!
Me: I just told you, all Rochester schools are closed.
Caller: So...(big 12 year old sigh of anger) is John Adams closed or not?!
Me: (Yeah, I know I could have just said, "yes", but c'mon...would you? NO! You would have some fun...wouldn't you?) Let's try this a different way...where do you go to school?
Caller: John Adams.
Me: And where is John Adams...what city?
Caller: Rochester.
Me: OK...well if John Adams is in Rochester and all Rochester Public and Private
schools are closed...is JA closed?
Caller: (really not happy with me now) I DON'T KNOW THAT'S WHY I CALLED!
Me: (OK, he's ticked...time for me to stop being a jerk) Yeah, John Adams is closed.
Caller: (another big 12 year old sigh of anger) Big hang up!
posted by James & Cori @ 6:39 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Classic story.
Here's my thoughts on this... we all want *some* kind of confirmation. I think we expect that the principle or the school administrators or whoever is stuck in snow and can't get to work. This morning, I checked the local TV newscasts, the websites and the radio- (my kid goes to private... so he had school scheduled today) I didn't see anything there for Rochester schools. That means school is still on, but the *lack* of confirmation of that still had me dialing up the school anyway.
It's the unknown. I'd like to see the school district or the city or someone just host a "school closing" page. Each school can update it once Open or closed, or "unknown." Then all the news sources, parents, radio, etc can all see. If I see an "unknown" then I can worry like I did this morning (since I'm not the only one that doesn't know) but if I see a green light, then it's saddle up son! We're off!
...I guess I'm just proposing the same information you have on your page.
But make it centralized.
Haha! That kid sounds like a champ!
why don't you get your school to use:
www.schooldelay.com
My daughters school uses it and we never have issues like this!
Good luck
To the blogger above, my school in CO also uses the same site (http://www.schooldelay.com) and never has a problem.
For those of you who don't use it, the School logs in and posts a message.
It immediatly updates:
1. My cell phone
2. My email addresses
3. The schools website
4. The SchoolDelay.com website
5. Media Partners
It doesn't cost the parents anything and I think the school pays a very nominal fee per student.
I don't see why every school doesn't use it.
Man, that almost read like some sort of demented Abbot and Costello bit. Good ol' 12 year olds...
We homeschooled kids don't usually have to worry about finding out about snow days. Usually, it goes something like this:
ME: *walks into kitchen* "Mom, do we have to do school today?"
MOM: No.
ME: Cool. *Goes back to bed*
Well, maybe its not exactly like that, but pretty dang close.
Nice job on the bloggin'. You gonna give Cori a run at it, or be a blog hog? Either way, I'm tuned in..
See you Tuesday.
-Christian
Hey, thanks for the comments...
I think it causes more confusion than clarity to announce which schools are open and which schools are closed. When we've done that, we get flooded with calls...people that just missed it, heard part of it, or were scraping wet Frosted Flakes off the floor. Feel free to call us, tho...we really don't mind.
My daughters school uses it and we never have issues like this!
Well...I'm pretty certain we would still have people calling in. It's just human nature. Heck, we get people calling in for all sorts of things...there's one person that always calls in to find out if her, "Coffee and Friends" is cancelled. They have about 6 members.
Cori's up tomorrow...with the story of the clerk that called her ugly!
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