St. Matthew’s Skiers Hit the Slopes

By CHRISTOPHER BRAUN | Junior Reporter

Every year in February at St. Matthew’s School, I get excited because Ski Week is coming and my friends and I will be going on the best ski trip ever.
Mrs. Jane Young, Principal for Preschool through Fourth Grade, said the tradition of Ski Week at St. Matthew’s “started way before I got here [more than 25 years ago].”

School families “loved skiing during President’s Day weekend so much,” Mrs. Young said, that they “asked the school to expand it to a full week.”
Because “a lot of schools gave two weeks at Spring Break and we only gave one week, we decided if we gave a week in February and a week during the Easter or Spring Break, families would have a chance to do different types of things.”
One of the things Mrs. Young likes most about Mid-Winter Break or “Ski Week” is that “it comes at a time of year when people are excited to see the snow” and “everyone is ready for a little break.”
It is nice to have a week off where you can ski and see your friends and have nice dinners with your friends.  This year I spent Ski Week in Mammoth with 15 school families.  Mammoth is a really fun place to ski because it is a big mountain.
My sister Anna Braun, 5, said “my favorite thing about Ski Week is being with my friends” and her favorite ski run was the obstacle course. Even my brother Nicholas, 1 and a half years old, had fun walking in the snow in his snow boots.
Elise McLoughlin, 6, said her “favorite part of ski week is skiing” and her favorite ski area was also the obstacle course.
Katherine Chambers, 8, said she likes when her friends can ski together on their own.
Holden Ames, 6, years old, said his favorite part of skiing at Mammoth were the jumps and he really liked the terrain park.
Summer Havens, 7, said her favorite things were skiing and the riding the chair lifts
Sophie Min, 8, said she enjoyed sledding best while her brother James, 8, said his favorite run was called ‘Scotty’s.’
This time my friend Rowan McLoughlin, 8, and I got to ski the backside of the mountain with our ski instructor Andreas for the first time.  I am proud that Rowan and I skied down Cornice Bowl.  It was really fun.  You should try it.