Stranded Hoffman Estates students have escape plan

A group of St. Hubert Catholic School students stranded for days by snow in the nation's capital have finally hit upon a plan to escape from D.C.

The 33 eighth-graders from the Hoffman Estates school had flights canceled both Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, they split into two groups, with half able to get home Monday night and the other half to arrive early today before both the East Coast and the Midwest get dumped with even more snow.

After yet another delay, most of the girls on the trip arrived at Midway Airport late Monday night, led by St. Hubert Assistant Principal Alison O'Connor. Parents were initially told to meet at the school at 9:45 p.m., which was then pushed back to 10:30 p.m. As for the others, the boys and two girl volunteers will join eighth-grade teacher Deb Larsen of Elgin on a flight leaving Washington at 6 a.m. today that's expected to land at O'Hare at 7:05 a.m.

All in all, the group has managed to make it through the unexpectedly long trip with high spirits, Larsen said Monday.

"It's an adventure," she laughed. "The kids are troopers. It's actually been kind of fun, except the kids are getting a little homesick."

Other practical considerations have intruded on their educational pleasure jaunt as well, such as the chore of doing laundry at the Embassy Suites Hotel Sunday to ensure a supply of clean underwear for the unscheduled second half of the stay.

One student who particularly needed the trip to end Monday was Paige Pflanz, whose grandfather died Friday. She wanted to be home in time for his wake today and funeral Wednesday.

Her mother, Karen Pflanz, said her husband originally planned not to tell Paige and spoil her trip.

But Paige received a text message from her cousin expressing condolences for her grandfather's passing. In fact, Paige found out even before Karen, who was on an out-of-town trip with her son in Wisconsin. Karen was thankful that Paige at least was among friends she's known since kindergarten.

"In a time like this, she couldn't be with a better group of people," Karen said.

Neither the school nor any affected family will be paying an extra dime for the extended stay, Larsen said, expressing gratitude for how well both the hotel and the tour company, Educational Tours, have helped the group handle the unforeseen circumstances.

As of Monday morning, the city itself still showed all the signs of the massive blizzard it had just experienced. "The streets are not good," Larson said. "The roadways are not good."

That didn't deter the kids from having fun. They were blowing off steam and enjoying a snow day of sorts at an underground shopping mall next to the hotel, even as plows continued to handle the 32.4 inches of accumulation above their heads.