Marching for something you believe in is not a fair weather game, as the students of Maplewood Middle School certainly learned today during the Michele Turner Annual MLK Silent Peace March.

"It was wonderful," said Grade 6 Team Teacher Richard Palmgren. "A little rain, a little snow. It gave them the whole experience of marching."

Indeed, more than 700 6th, 7th and 8th graders paced silently from their school through Maplewood Village and back as the weather migrated from driving rain to chunky snowflakes amidst 35 mph wind gusts and tumbling temperatures. As they left the Village and headed for the front lawn of MMS for the Pledge of Allegiance, the sun broke through.

Back inside the school, the students listened to Dr. King's famous "I have a dream" speech, delivered on a hot August day in 1963. For all the snow and rain gusts the students had faced, they were reminded that Dr. King and those who marched with him faced far harsher winds.