Winona State University will partner with the Winona Healthy Kids Program to host the 2017 Zombie Crawl on Sunday, Oct. 15.

The event provides kids ages 5-12 and their families the opportunity to participate in activities, like Zombie-themed Zumba, but to also learn more about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

This event also gives Winona State students the chance to connect with the younger members of the community and teach them the importance of being healthy.   

Myranda Nash, the associate athletic director of Winona State and the host of this year’s Zombie Crawl, was approached by Nicole Schossow, the community relations coordinator of Winona Healthy Kids, about this year’s event. Nash offered to help Schossow if she had planned any future events.

“I think she just put that in the back of her head and saw this as an opportunity to collaborate,” Nash said.

Formerly, the Zombie Crawl was held at Winona Middle School, but this year, Nash and Schossow decided that the event should be held at the university.

They saw the event as an opportunity to get the student athletes of Winona State more involved in the community.

“Anytime we can get our student athletes involved with the community, it makes them have a deeper investment in Winona and provides more of a home feeling for them,”

Nash said.

Schossow added that the younger students often see the Winona State student athletes as role models and because of that they may have a greater impact on the kids.

“I’m really glad that we’re in with the athletic department and the student athletes,” Schossow said. “We’re excited about what that means for the kids because they see those students as important role models.”

Schossow hopes that the student athletes who participate at the event will think about their healthy habits as they encourage the kids to eat healthy and stay active.

“The students who are in athletics are already active and they tend to eat heathier and they tend to just be more aware of health and wellness,” Schossow said.

This year’s Zombie Crawl will host a slew of fun activities, including zombie-themed Zumba, brain games and mask-making.

Healthy, zombie-themed snacks will also be provided for kids and their families by the Winona Health food nutrition group.

Some of Winona State sports teams, including gymnastics and volleyball, will be there coordinating fun activities for event-goers to participate in.

Winona State junior Katie Schlegel, a double major in secondary mathematics education and Spanish and the vice president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, also shared how the plans of the Zombie Crawl are progressing.

“We’re still hammering out the specifics of the event,” Schlegel said. “We’re trying to find ideas and make them zombie-related.”

The Zombie Crawl will take place from 4-6 p.m. on Oct. 15 at Winona State’s Integrated Wellness Complex.

Children who attend with their family or guardians are encouraged to wear friendly zombie costumes.

The event is free, but for planning purposes, families are recommended to RSVP over the phone or online by Oct. 12.