LAKE STEVENS — Some school assemblies are informative, others are entertaining and a few are flat-out fun.
And some, like the visit by members of the Everett Silvertips hockey team to Sunnycrest Elementary School early this month, are a mix of all three.
Players Landon Ferraro, a
19-year-old forward from Vancouver, B.C., and Brennan Yadlowski, a 19-year-old defenseman from Edmonton, Alberta, were joined at the school by Jon Rosen, the team’s director of broadcasting and public relations (he is also the radio play-by-play announcer) for two 40-minute assemblies.
Among other topics, they talked about working hard, overcoming mistakes, and the importance of reading. The students asked questions of the players, and then several lucky youngsters had the chance to join Ferraro and Yadlowski for a spirited game of floor hockey on the gym stage.
The kids loved all of it. But when Lincoln, the team’s furry bear mascot, appeared midway through the programs, well, the gym went bonkers.
“When Lincoln appeared, that put a big charge through the room,” said Sunnycrest principal Tim Haines. “That was pretty exciting for them.”
“I couldn’t believe how excited they got when he walked in,” agreed Brittany Wood, one of the school’s fifth grade teachers.
School assemblies are a very visible and highly successful part of the Silvertips’ community outreach program. Led by Rosen, the team visits 25 to 30 schools a year to interact with some of its youngest fans.
The goal, Rosen explained, “is to promote healthy lifestyle habits. And many of those lessons are applicable in elementary school life as well as life on a hockey team.”
Looking out at the kids in the audience, “I see a lot of excitement and captivation,” he said. “They’re listening and they’re paying attention, and they’re also smiling. A good portion of the school day is about raising your hand and being told when you’re allowed to speak, so we want create an environment where they can shout out answers, make noise, move around a little bit and have fun.”
The funny thing is, Rosen went on, the players seem to enjoy the assemblies as much as the students.
The Silvertips typically take older players to the schools, usually 19 and 20 years old, “and they understand that there is a community public relations side to being (part of the team),” he said. “It’s not just about playing hockey. They are ambassadors to the community, and I know it makes them feel good to go out and provide positive lessons.
“But most of all, I think the guys just like doing it. They wouldn’t be doing it if they weren’t having a lot of fun.”
This was the second school appearance this season for Ferraro and Yadlowski, and it was clear they were enjoying the chance to hang out with some young admirers.
“I remember the school assemblies I had when I was their age, and how you really didn’t pay that much attention in many of them,” Ferraro said. “But you could see that everyone here was paying attention. They were listening, and you could see how much they were hanging onto every word.”
A school visit like this “gets you back to your childhood,” Yadlowski said. “If I’d had some celebrity or hockey player come to my school when I was that age, it would’ve been just amazing.”
One student who obviously enjoyed the visit was 10-year-old Bailey Corley, a fourth grader who is a big Silvertips fan. A year ago, Corley wrote a book for a class project entitled “The Amazing Hockey Game,” about an imaginary Silvertips game. At the assembly he was invited up to meet Ferraro and Yadlowski, and then was part of the floor hockey game.
The Silvertips made their first visit to Sunnycrest a year ago, and Haines admits that he was not quite sure what to expect.
“I wasn’t certain if it was just going to be a big promotion for the Silvertips,” he said. “But it’s not. Obviously they do fun stuff and they talk about the Silvertips, but there’s another message there as well.
“One of the players did a nice job of talking about the coaches and the referees, and how the referees have an important job of keeping the players safe, making sure the game is fair, and that the game should be played respectfully. Then he drew some parallels between referees and teachers, and he reminded the kids how important it is to listen to their teachers and to be respectful of their teachers.
“I thought it was outstanding,” he said. “I know all the students enjoyed it, the staff enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it myself.”
Likewise, Wood said, this was “definitely an assembly that gets kids amped up and excited. The players and (Rosen) were very animated. … And then perhaps when the kids might have started losing attention, in walked Lincoln.”
To the students, she said, “the Silvertips are celebrities. The kids had stars in their eyes.”
As a teacher, Wood appreciated that Ferraro and Yadlowski emphasized many of the messages “that I teach my kids every day, like working hard, earning things and doing their best at everything. So this was a chance to back up what I teach them.
“And now, throughout the year I’ll be able to tell them about the day the Silvertips came and about was said … and now maybe they’ll think, ‘Wow, she’s right.’”
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