Players from the New York Jets signed autographs, taste-tested homemade salsa, shared laughs, and passed along words of wisdom to the youngsters at I.S. 192 in St. Albans.
On Friday, October 23, Darrelle Revis, Shaun Ellis, Calvin Pace, and Marques Douglas from the Jets took a day out of their busy schedule to give back to the kids who wake up on Sundays and can’t wait to watch “Gang Green.”
St. John’s University and the After-School All-Stars of New York worked together to create a safe and secure place for the kids at I.S. 192 to play sports and participate in many activities after school every day.
More than 200 ecstatic middle-school kids were bouncing off the halls to get a chance to meet some of their favorite professional athletes.
“A lot of our children are on the flag football team, and they are all very excited to see the Jets come to their school,” said I.S. 192 Principal Harriett Diaz. “It’s great because some of these kids hope to become professional athletes in the future.”
As soon as the Jets arrived at the school, they joined in the volleyball and badminton games. Soon after, they went from classroom to classroom surprising the kids while they were doing their after-school activities.
“It feels good to be able to come back to speak with and interact with the kids,” said Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis. “It’s great that we can instill a better light upon them to the challenges they are going to face,” added the 10-year veteran in the NFL.
The Jets even got a chance to become a taste-test panel for the cooking class at the school. Revis, a Jets cornerback, proclaimed that salsa needs to be heavy in spice – then went to the far left corner of the room and congratulated the group of youngsters with the best tasting dip.
“This put a smile on their faces…,” said Revis, who is a three-year veteran and 2008 Pro Bowl participant. “It’s always a good thing to give back because we were in these kids’ shoes before and we always looked up to our role models.”
After some fun and games, the athletes took some time to share their wisdom with the youngsters. Topics like education, inspirations, discipline, and having the right skills to make it as far as one can were discussed in the question and answer portion of the visit.
The kids were overjoyed by just the mere presence of their football heroes.
“Having the Jets here feels really good because they are one of my favorite teams and we got to ask them questions,” said 11-year-old Marcus Fontilus, who attends I.S. 192.
Before they left the middle school, the Jets collectively left the kids with one motivating motto – “Just believe in yourself and you can do anything you set your mind to.”
