Spring in bloom

The change of seasons means -a break for area students

By JENNIFER KOVACS / Tribune Chronicle
WARREN — While some holidays this week will be longer than others, all local students will be enjoying some time off as the spring break season commences.

But when it comes to which is better — a long, four-day weekend or up to 10 whole days off — everyone has their own opinion.

‘‘I think sometimes this spring break is good for individuals to make the home stretch before the end of the school year,’’ said Mark Lucas, superintendent of the Liberty Local Schools.

Students in Liberty began their vacations on Good Friday and won’t be back in the classroom until March 31, something Lucas said has always been a nice down period before they return to take the impending achievement tests.

Lucas admits, however, that the short break has its perks, too.

‘‘The natural one is extra time at the end of the school year to get out a few days early,’’ he said.

Liberty is not scheduled to end this school year until June 4.

But Denika Freeman and Ramone Hill, who have two young children in the Warren City School District, say it’s nice to have those extra days right now.

‘‘I like the week off,’’ Freeman said.

And while Lucas said students shouldn’t sweat their studies too much while on their vacation, Freeman said she wants her kids to stay on top of their homework and reading at home, too.

Warren is one district that’s gone with a mid-length break, returning students to class on Thursday.

The same goes for the Girard City Schools, where one family is remembering days gone by.

The Costarella family in Girard used to do things right, even taking up to two weeks off when their two twin girls were young.

‘‘For a lot of years, we went down to Florida for spring break,’’ Joe Costarella said.

But now Costarella said that he and his girls — wife, Lorraine, and daughters, Toni and Rachele — will be spending their vacation at home.

‘‘When they were younger, it was easier,’’ Costarella said.

Now his freshman teens have commitments with dance and the family just can’t take the same treks they saw in those early years.

In the northern tier of Trumbull County, things are bit different when it comes to spring break, Joseph Badger Superintendent David Bair said.

Students in the rural district will have a short break spanning from Good Friday to Monday, as they’re scheduled to hit the books again on Tuesday.

‘‘When you put them all together, there’s a myriad of reasons why,’’ Bair said.

For example, many families in the district right now are preparing for the planting season and simply aren’t able to escape on even a short trip.

And also for tradition’s sake alone, Joseph Badger students have always been out of school at the very beginning of June and the district isn’t so willing to give that up. This year the last day is scheduled for May 29.

‘‘I like the shorter spring break, too. You already get one of those (long breaks) and it’s at Christmas,’’ Bair said.



jkovacs@tribune-chronicle.com