Operation Snowball tosses students a second opportunity

Operation Snowball is set to offer a three-day retreat for students as a second chance to participate in the program for those who were not accepted into the fall Snowball. It will take place from March 8 to March 10, 2018 at the YMCA Camp Duncan in Ingleside, Ill.

According to Adult Director Amanda Lazzaro, she and her fellow directors felt conflicted over rejecting students because there is not enough physical space.

“It’s an opportunity we want more people to have,” Lazzaro said.

Freshman Sophia Marasco said she heard about Snowball from upperclassmen on the cross country team and hoped to attend, but since she arrived to turn in her application after many of her peers, it was not accepted for the fall Snowball.

“I wasn’t that upset,” said Marasco. “I was just annoyed with the process of first come, first serve.”

According to Adult Director Darin Sullivan, the nature of the second Snowball will be the same, but they plan to include different speakers and activities.

“The idea of the [activities] is to get students comfortable enough with one another to participate in discussions about how they can become better people,” Sullivan said.

Senior Blake Abbott said Snowball made it easier to express himself after moving from Kansas his sophomore year.

“[My leaders] were encouraging me to explain what it was like coming from another state [and] what it was like to join another school,” Abbott said.

Sullivan said with the creation of the second Snowball, he hopes to offer the experience to as many people as possible.

“Hopefully the kids we’ve had to say no to in November, we can say yes to in March,” Sullivan said.