Pardeetime: Snowball worth the lack of sleep

January is more than the first month of the new year for Washington Community High School students.

They head back to the classroom after two weeks off for the holidays.

The first semester ends with the completion of finals, kicking off a four-day weekend ending with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

During said weekend, students participate in Snowball Weekend.

At least, that is how it is supposed to happen.

This year, Mother Nature conspired to ruin everything.

Thanks to sub-zero temperatures, school was cancelled for two days and finals were rescheduled. At one point, there was concern Snowball would be cancelled because of the weather.

But Old Man Winter relented and the temperatures rose enough to allow students their annual weekend-long lock-in.

For those unfamiliar with Snowball, students arrive at the high school at 7 p.m. Friday night and go home around noon Sunday.

The weekend is designed to be an uplifting experience.

Students participate in group activities, team-building exercises and listen to speakers.

The purpose is to help students make better choices, create positive experiences, be better people and build healthy relationships.

Both girls and boys attend together. They are encouraged to work together and discuss issues facing today’s teens.

At lights out, the girls go to one section of the school and the boys to another.

They are chaperoned by the Night Hawks, parents who volunteer to watch the halls all night.

For safety reasons, students are not allowed to leave school during Snowball without permission from those faculty members in charge.

Students who drive are required to relinquish their keys upon check-in.

Every year, since I started as editor, I like to get photos of the event.

Usually, I go for a short time during the team-building exercises and then leave.

However, this year was different.

I got to the school early enough and chatted with Michael Damery and Robert Mitchell, who were in charge of the weekend.

I found out I could stick around for as long as I felt I needed.

It was great to be able to get a little more insight to the weekend.

Instead of simply taking photos and leaving, I watched and listened.

Students were encouraged to avoid negativity and say only positive things to each other.

It helps that the group leaders are past Snowball attendees, both current WCHS students and recent graduates who are in college.

The students were divided into 11 small groups and sent to their rooms to get to know each other and come up with a group name.

I was invited to sit in with one group.

After a bit, the even-numbered groups went down to the west gym for team-building exercises.

They rotated through a series of games designed to promote teamwork and problem solving.

From the laughter and shouts, I would say they were a success.

When the odd-numbered groups came down for the games, I joined my son’s group for two of the exercises.

In the first, we had to hold hands and move a hula hoop around the circle with letting go of our neighbors.

After successfully completing that task, we had to move two hula hoops in opposite directions.

With all the various height differences, it was interesting. The fun part was watching the person who was stuck moving both hoops in opposite directions.

Although I did not stay for the whole weekend, I did stay through the night, filling in for one of the Night Hawks who could not be there.

It is uplifting to watch young people work together, support each other and make an effort to make good choices that will hopefully stay with them for the rest of their lives.

As my son so aptly stated on his Facebook page, “Tell your story, shed your mask and live your life. Snowball 2009. Most amazing weekend ever! I feel like I have been reborn.”

As a mom, I could not ask for anything better than to know my child is choosing the right path.

While I always felt he was doing positive things with his life, it is great to see the high school administration and faculty offer opportunities for further personal growth to the students.

I am pretty confident other “Snowball parents” feel the same way.