Standout Student: Champlin Park’s Allie Blodgett
The first day back at school after a long weekend isn’t normally a time for celebration.
But Tuesday afternoon was a special occasion at Champlin Park High School, complete with cheerleaders, a band and students wearing formal attire.
Welcome to the 2019 Snow Days pep fest.
“Snow days is a really unique tradition here,” said Bennett Otto, a Champlin Park senior. “It’s not like prom where the guy asks the girl. The girl asks the guy.”
This unique tradition of Snow Days includes royalty. Eight males and eight females are nominated, and the entire student body selects the winners.
Allie Blodgett, a senior with Down syndrome, was one of the nominees.
“Allie was the one that asked me to walk with her,” Otto said. “So it was great to hear and I loved it.”
Support from the Champlin Park Community
CCX News first met Allie in July of 2017 when a major storm came through Brooklyn Park and damaged her trampoline.
The Champlin Park boys’ hockey team helped raise money for a new trampoline, and even took the time to put it together.
“She’s always supported our hockey team and stuff,” neighbor Sam Lee said in 2017. “We thought of her as a little sister almost, so we wanted to help her out.”
The kindness from her fellow classmates continues to this day.
“She’s always cracking jokes, and she just wants to make other people smile,” said Izzy Ashburn, a Champlin Park senior. “And I think that’s what’s great about her, and that’s why everybody just loves her.”
Crowning a Queen
They loved Allie so much that the student body voted her as this year’s Snow Days queen.
A special honor for a special student who’s beloved by so many.
“It meant a lot to her I’m sure,” Ashburn said. “She kept looking at us saying, ‘I won, I won, I’m the queen.’ And we were all so excited for her, you could hear the whole crowd erupt when it happened.”
Allie herself was at a loss for words over what happened.
“It feels good,” she said.
A soft-spoken student who was all smiles. It’s a significant accomplishment for one of the school’s biggest supporters.
“She’s by far the biggest school fan that we have here,” Ashburn said.
Meanwhile, Allie is also the manager of the Champlin Park boys’ hockey team, but the team has a game this Saturday, which is the same time as the dance.
We’re told that she’ll likely choose the game over the dance.