Parkview students swap the bus for sleds as a way to get to school
(Published Monday, February 19, 2007 11:02:44 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Carla McCann Gazette Staff
Orfordville
When snow starts covering roads and fields, resourceful students in rural communities look for alternative means of getting to school.
In Orfordville, that means snowmobiles.
Last Friday, a half dozen were parked on a snow bank behind Parkview High School.
In the morning, riders jump snowdrifts and zoom across the landscape from their homes. Sometimes, they meet at landmarks and arrive at school together.
When the school day ends, it seems none of the innovative drivers ever goes directly home. Jumping drifts is too much temptation to pass up.
For Ryan Naatz, a 17-year-old senior at Parkview, little compares to the joy of snowmobiling to school.
"It's a rush," Naatz said. "It's like our freedom."
It takes Naatz about 10 minutes to drive 5 miles from his house to the school, he said.
On the trails, he and friends share camaraderie and the spirit of youth. Not even subzero temperatures persuaded the students to take a bus or drive cars to school.
"I don't care how cold it is, I'm going to drive the snowmobile to school," said Thomas Thostenson, another 18-year-old senior.
The key to being comfortable in the cold is to dress properly, said Donald Weis, a 17-year-old junior.
At the end of the school Friday, Zachary Govert was planning a trip on his snowmobile to the nearby village of Hanover.
"I'll hit the trail out of town by the water tower," said Govert, a 16-year-old sophomore. "Driving my snowmobile is a lot cheaper than driving my vehicle. I don't know why it's so much fun. It just is."
Although Daniel Mason is the youngest member of the snowmobiling students, the 13-year-old seventh grader holds his own when it comes to drift jumping.
The junior high student readily shares stories about his early morning rides to school across drifts and, occasionally, into fences.
Mostly, the students don't ride alone. But they all carry cell phones in case of emergency.
After school, while the buses were leaving the parking lot, the snowmobiling students met at their machines to plan routes home.
Snowmobiling is a new adventure for Lucas Da-Rocha, an 18-year-old exchange student from Brazil.
