Downers Grove North counselor wins Operation Snowball award

Kevin Leslie, a counselor at Downers Grove North High School, recently was honored with the 2023 Operation Snowball Adult Excellence Award.

Leslie is the sole award winner. Entries were taken from more than 70 Snowball chapters throughout Illinois, according to a news release. The award celebrates an adult in Operation Snowball for ongoing service that has made an exceptional and measurable impact in their community.

Leslie, who has been a sponsor for North’s Snowball program for 22 years, helped grow the Community High School District 99 chapter and started the Snowflake program with area middle schools. Leslie’s involvement allowed North’s Operation Snowball to grow from a single retreat to an all-year program for student leaders districtwide to learn, grow and create community.

“Kevin makes sure everyone’s enjoying themselves with his easy style and infectious laugh,” Dawn Sprengel, special services teacher at Downers Grove North, said in the release. “The impact he’s had on thousands of students he’s worked with is immeasurable.”

“We are so proud of the work Kevin has done with Snowball,” Downers Grove North Principal Courtney DeMent said in the release. “He will have a legacy that will continue, and I know our students are so proud of him and love working with him.”

Leslie, a school counselor at Downers Grove North since 2011 and a faculty member since 2001, will retire in June.

“Our Snowball program won’t be the same without Kevin,” Keith Bullock, Downer’s Grove North’s student assistance program coordinator, said in the release. “We want him to know how much we appreciate him and what a legacy he leaves for students and the community who will be part of District 99 Snowball for years to come.”

Operation Snowball is an international youth program that empowers student leaders through prevention education, community advocacy and leadership development (operationsnowballinc.org). To learn about North’s Operation Snowball program, go to csd99.org/dgn/activities/operation-snowball-2020-21.