INDIANAPOLIS —  One student-athlete from Marshall County has been selected to represent her high school during the 2009-10 winter sports season.
Cindy Miller, a senior basketball player from Culver Community High School, is being featured in this year’s program  sponsored by Tobacco Free Marshall County. In total, 100 students from 68 Indiana high schools are participating in the 2009-2010 Role Model Program.
Now in its seventh year, the IHSAA Role Model Program draws on the credibility that Indiana high school student-athletes with high grades, athletic achievement and a good citizenship record have in their home communities.
Miller was nominated to represent Culver by administrators at her school. She also signed a pledge agreeing to be tobacco, drug and alcohol free and serve as a positive role model for the community.

“Cindy is part of something much bigger than herself,” said IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress. “She is helping to change habits and positively influence lives in her school, community and throughout the state of Indiana.”
Educators are encouraged to display role model posters and distribute pocket schedules/trading cards in their high school, the middle and elementary schools that feed their high school, and in local businesses throughout the community. This year’s materials carry the headline: “I Won’t Blow My Future.”
A recent study shows a significant decline in tobacco use among Indiana high school and middle school students. In the past two years alone, the smoking rate fell 23.2 percent for high school students and 47 percent for middle school students.
“I think the student-athletes involved in the IHSAA Role Model Program are definitely helping to address youth tobacco use,” said Karla Sneegas, Executive Director of Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation (ITPC). “They are connecting with each other in a way adults cannot; as friends and peers. Having these high school student leaders in as many communities as possible is an invaluable asset in our efforts to reduce the use of tobacco products in Indiana.”