Students try making snowmen without the snow

Ever seen a 54-year-old monk dressed up as a bikini-wearing snowman?

How about a snowwoman with a hip-hop-inspired charcoal eye patch and Band-Aid on her cheek, or an Elvis snowman with construction paper sideburns and guitar?

Even Frosty would have gotten a good laugh had he been present Monday at Notre Dame Regional High School's snowman-building contest.

With not a snowflake in sight, students used white trash bags, newspapers and all sorts of accessories to create themed snowmen as part of the Catholic Schools Week celebration.

Although most of the eight faux snow creations were spur-of-the-moment ideas, ingenuity abounded among the four grades competing against each other in the school's cafetorium.

The most daring snowman was, without doubt, principal Brother David Migliorino dressed as "Bikini Snowman." Members of the senior class clothed him in a trash bag stuffed with newspapers, then hooked a bikini top around his neck and taped it to his sides.

The matching bikini bottoms were taped around his waist, and his cowl was replaced with a white sock hat and sunglasses. The outcome kept Migliorino's students in stitches.

"This is getting everybody pumped up and excited about going to school here," said 18-year-old senior Andrew Strohmeyer.

Jerry Grim, an art teacher and coach, volunteered to help the senior class and ended up wearing black sideburns and a flaring shirt collar, both made from construction paper, as an Elvis-impersonating snowman.

Representatives from local media -- Faune Riggin with KZIM, Kate Scott with KFVS-12 and this reporter -- served as impartial judges in the two rounds of the contest, which was held in conjunction with Student Appreciation Day.

"We thought, 'What would make the students happy?'" said Becki Essner, a teacher who helped coordinate the contest. "And we knew that it had to be a snow day since we haven't had one this year."

The sophomore class's two-tiered "Spirit Snowman" won the first round of the contest, and the junior class's "Princess Ho-Ho-Hobo" snowman (nicknamed "Asphyxiation Snowman" by the impartial judges because of the trash bag over her head) won the second round.

The four grades are competing against each other in various games and contests throughout the week for the grand prize of an off-campus lunch.

"Every class has its own personality," said Essner. "And I think that was reflected in their snowmen. They all did a great job."

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128