Dublin Primary School students took part in simulated football drills Tuesday as the Carolina Panthers Play60 van visited the school and provided the students with two hours of physical activity.
Dublin was one of only 30 schools in North Carolina that the Play60 van will visit during this off-season.
“Our physical education teacher (Sharon McDowell) registered us for the event,” said Dublin Principal Haley Cheshire. “They then use a lottery to choose from those schools registered, and our school was chosen.”
The Play60 van brought equipment used to set up 8 stations for football-related drills. The drills were similar to those used by National Football League teams during practice.
The kids rotated through the 8 stations during the event. The West Bladen Dream Team was on-hand to help set up and run the stations.
None of the Panther players, coaches or staff attended the event other than the two employees who run the Play60 events. There was no Cam Newton or Luke Kuechly there but the kids still had fun running the drills just like their heroes.
“The whole point of Play60 is to increase physical activity to help resolve childhood obesity,” said Principal Cheshire.
The Play60 event at Dublin was only for grades 2-4 because of liability restrictions, but Principal Cheshire found an alternative way to get everyone involved Tuesday.
“We rented an inflatable obstacle course and slide for our kindergarten and first grade students,” she said. “We want all of our students to be involved in physical activity.”
About Author
