SPRING LAKE PARK, Minn., — (Dec. 12, 2013) — This week students at Spring Lake Park’s Lighthouse School got a chance to hang out with a pair of Minnesota Vikings. Offensive linemen Charlie Johnson and Joe Berger visited the school this week after it was announced that the school had been selected as a “NFL Play 60 Super School”.
The school is one of 32 schools in the nation to receive the designation and along with the designation came a $10,000 grant for health and wellness programming. Physical Education teacher Mindy Daugherty wrote the winning grant proposal, which was chosen out of thousands of entries, and is excited to put the money towards new and unique programs. “I think one of our biggest purchases are going to be snowshoes to stay active in the winter time,” Daugherty said. “And kind of introduce them to a new idea to stay physically active in the winter so they don’t have to be hibernating in their homes.”
Various Vikings players spend every Tuesday during the season making a difference in the community and for Charlie Johnson he considers it a part of the responsibility of a professional athlete. “We’ve been given a great platform,” Johnson said. “We’ve made to the highest level of our profession and we need to use that. And to be able to come out and kind of show them what we did when we were younger…helped us get to where we were, and it made us better people. So that’s important for us to come out, and use the platform we’ve been given to spread the word and try to help the young people.”
Johnson continued by commenting that it was great to see the school striving to inspire the students to remain active all year long. “There’s a lot of inactivity amongst our young people so it’s important to show them to get out and play, and be fit,” he said.
The players spent about 30 minutes taking part in a gym class with students and for Mindy the entire event was a big success. “Today was amazing,” Daugherty said. “The kids did wonderful; they deserve this as much as I do. So it was fun to see the excitement in their faces and to be a part of having the Vikings come in. It was a big show for our little school, so it was very fun.”
The Lighthouse School has been a part of the Spring Lake Park district for the past 10 years and provides a unique educational opportunity for gifted learners in grades 1-12.
Related Links:
Spring Lake Park Schools
NFL Play 60
