School House Rock program already a success this season
March 8, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Toronto Rock News Release
TORONTO - The well received School House Rock program sponsored by the Toronto Rock and Montana's Cookhouse, is well into its full schedule which began a month earlier than in previous years. This year, the program kicked off in late December 2006 to provide even more schools the opportunity to experience this fun and educational program within the community.
The Toronto Rock players each hold down full time jobs on top of their professional lacrosse careers, practicing, training and travelling, therefore making them positive role models for the young students today. Rock Assistant Captain, Chris Driscoll and newcomer forward Kevin Fines are the players committed to the program this year, accompanying the coordinator to each school one or two times a week throughout the Rock season. The program visits schools as far as St. Catharines and Bradford and as far East as Oshawa and is expanding each year to reach other areas.
The School House Rock program was designed to provide a positive interaction between the Toronto Rock and the students in our community. Generally targeting students from grades four to eight, the program focuses on a healthy eating and active lifestyle with an additional emphasis on team work and respect in everyday life. The players incorporate their professional lacrosse experience with those strong messages to teach the students in a fun and interactive environment.
Chris and Kevin are actively involved in the 90 minute program and keep the children engaged by demonstrating lacrosse skills while speaking to the students about the strong messages they feel are important to share with our youth today. They cover a brief history of the game, the NLL and the Toronto Rock while the students are given the opportunity to participate in some basic lacrosse skill demos. The program also includes a trivia segment and a player Q & A portion which wraps the session up.
Kevin Fines is playing in his first year for the Toronto Rock and enjoys being a part of the program. He says "it's important for us to be a part of a program like School House Rock, to give back to the communities that support us and help educate potential future athletes." The students are left with important messages and a memorable experience to leave school that day with. "Each and every school that I've been to so far, the kids have given us a warm welcome and really enjoyed the presentation."
The CBC daytime program "Living in Toronto" recently attended a School House Rock presentation in a downtown Toronto school. To take a brief look at what goes on throughout the presentations, visit www.cbc.ca/livingintoronto to watch the Rock segment that aired on Wednesday February 28th 2007.
The Toronto Rock travel to Edmonton to face the Rush next Friday March 16th at 9:00 p.m. EST. The team heads back to Toronto for their anticipated match-up against the Colorado Mammoth on Saturday March 17th at 7:30 p.m. EST. at the ACC.
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- School House Rock program already a success this season - Toronto Rock
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