Town of Munster Indiana

Snowflurry 2016 participants including fifth graders, high school student leaders, and staff members.  This year's event enjoyed one of its highest attendances ever.

Snowflurry 2016 was held on Saturday, February 27th at Wilbur Wright Middle School.  The event, which is held as an extension of the Munster Police Department's Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program, included one of its highest attendances ever with 240 fifth graders and over 130 Munster High School students serving as their group leaders.  The students played games, watched a skit about treating others with respect, had snacks, and did small group activities centered around drug prevention and positive decision-making skills.  Each one of the participants also received a commemorative Snowflurry t-shirt and were given the opportunity to autograph each other's shirts with positive messages during the event.  The program concluded with a closing ceremony that was attended by the participants and their parents.

Munster High School senior Camille Jancosek (left) ties a "warm fuzzy" onto the necklace of St. Thomas More fifth grader Anna Castillo during an activity centered around treating others with respect.

School staff members who assisted with the program included (from Eads) principal Linda Bevil and teachers Leslie Riley, Traci Zabrecky, and Melissa Cergizan; (from Frank Hammond) principal Nancy Ellis and teachers Bonnie Gardner, Andrew Miller, and Ashley Pickett; and (from Elliott) principal Nicole Guernsey and teacher Erin Goodman.  School Resource/D.AR.E. Officers James Ghrist and Joseph Pacheco also assisted with supervising the event and the dodgeball activities were run by the Munster Police Explorers.

We would like to especially thank Dianne Kowalski and her crew for making over 400 of the "warm fuzzy" necklaces that the students and staff wore that day, as well as Mrs. Michelle Mason (parent of one of the participating fifth graders) who generously volunteered her time to serve as an on-site nurse that day.  Thank you to all of the parents who attended our closing ceremony and for allowing your children to participate this year.  For more information about the Snowflurry Event or the D.A.R.E. Program, please contact Officer James Ghrist at 219-836-6639 or jghrist@munster.org.