December 21 Madness: Apocalypse or Coincidence?

Students of High School East and West woke up on Friday, December 21, 2012, not to the end of the world, but to circulating rumors about potential power outages at both high schools. Many students also woke to power outages at their homes as a result of heavy winds and intermittent rain throughout the night and early morning.

By 7:20, students at West had arrived to a blocked-off Wolf Hill Road while the school remained in limbo regarding whether West would open or close. As a result, buses flooded the parking lot in the dark until administration ultimately decided the school was to remain closed as a result of the unanticipated power outage.  Speculation and excitement of “the end of the world” arose among students. Junior Kevin Liang commented, “Although I find it ironic that the storm and power outage occurred on 12/21/12, I think many students overacted. They were scared that the world was going to end, taking the bizarre situation as a ‘sign.’ It was obviously a complete coincidence.”

However, power was restored to many areas that had previously lost power just shortly after students returned home on the buses. As for the remainder of the district, middle and elementary schools resumed after a 2-hour delay.