Making an Impact: SU in the Community
2/18/2011 11:44:51 AM | Football
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Greeted with cheers by about 60 Bellevue Middle School students Syracuse University football student-athletes Dan Vaughan, Jonny Miller and Clay Cleveland entered the school cafeteria to visit and have lunch. The trio spoke with the eighth-grade students about the importance of education in a question-and-answer session before having lunch with the middle schoolers as part of a University program designed for college students to experience a day in the life of an eighth-grader last week.
“I think one of the big things for these kids is to help them understand that they can do it,” said Miller, a freshman quarterback for the Orange. “Some come from poverty stricken areas and they just need to know that if you work hard and are committed to what you want to do, you can achieve your goals in life.”
Each Orange student-athlete spoke about the value of education and the necessary steps to succeed. They stressed that with hard work and dedication, as well as surrounding yourself with positive people, obstacles can be overcome.
“It's very important for us to get out there to connect with the community and show that we care so that they can connect with us on the football field,” said Vaughan, a junior linebacker. "Coach Marrone does a real good job setting up community projects for us."
Pulling from personal experiences the student-athletes connected with the kids. As the Syracuse teammates put their sharpies to the students' shirts for autographs, the smiles on both party's faces reached ear to ear.
During lunch the conversations continued to flow. The students attentively listened to these collegiate student-athletes.
“It was cool to have them come in,” one eighth grader reflected after the visit. “I have never seen them up close.”
The program at Bellevue also included former Syracuse basketball standout John Wallace and Modie Cox, who co-founded the "Winning Because I Tried" youth mentoring program and a volleyball game featuring Bellevue students against Syracuse University students and Otto the Orange.
The Orange football program participates throughout the year in the 'Cuse Cares Community Engagement program, an athletics department program which has been recognized for the past 13 consecutive years with the Chancellor's Award for Public Service.
