For most of my life the first weeks of September found me in a classroom. First grade to high school was twelve years. No, I had not been to kindergarten. Then it was 37 years as the teacher. That makes 39 out of 79, almost half of my life. Of course, 21 years later I am still coaching speech.
With such a strong school history, my brother-in-law and muse, Gary, asked how the spring break thing got started. He didn’t recall it as part of his grade school and high school highlights. Neither did I. In 1973-1974 the US experienced what was known as the Energy Crunch. The Six Day War in the Middle East led to an oil embargo. Gas and oil prices spiked. Gas stations low on fuel produced long waits and lines.
Minnesota governor, Wendell “Wendy” Anderson, called for action. The Minnesota State High
School League (MSHSL) prohibited schools over winter break from holding any activities for 15
days. Many other measures were taken. Some schools reduced hours. Temperatures in buildings
were reduced. Some schools closed for a day while others took a full week for a mid-winter break
in February. The nation called for going on Daylight Savings time while winter was still in full
force. All of this was an effort to reduce gas and oil consumption.