By Eric Kuznar
One local elementary school earned a trophy and a visit from Indianapolis Colts players, cheerleaders and mascot after being selected as part of a statewide competition.
The Colts paid a visit to Cumberland Road Elementary School May 25, bringing mascot Blue, wide receiver Quan Bray and long snapper Matt Overton, several team cheerleaders and the 2007 Lombardi Trophy.
Colts mascot program assistant Lydia Stiehl said team representatives visit more than 100 schools in a year and leave each school with the same challenge — to be the best they can be. Among the criteria for the contest to be considered for a visit from the team was for students to be active, eat right and stop any bullying. Schools were able to submit presentations showing why they deserved to be selected.
“We’ve gotten videos, we got power points — this school did a notebook. They created a pamphlet that shows everything that they did,” Stiehl said.
Cumberland Road Elementary School guidance counselor Melissa Riethman and physical education teacher DeAnn Fox helped the students in putting together the pamphlet.
“Me and DeAnn made a playbook that showed how we stomped out bullying, how we exercise in the classroom, how we eat healthy and how we work on our academics,” Riethman said. “ We wanted to do something for the kids because they worked really hard.”
Fox praised the students for their hard work in making the visit from the Colts become a reality.
“They worked hard for this as well, and all I did was put it together and enter it for them,” she said. “My personal payoff is having a fun show for the kids and letting my school enjoy all its efforts and accomplishments throughout the year.”
The Colts awarded the students of Cumberland Road Elementary with a “Be The Best You Can Be” trophy as a symbol of their accomplishment.
