Wednesday, June 3rd was The Calais School’s 4th Annual Touchdown for Success Field Day and all of our students, staff, and visitors had a great time. The sun finally came out for a day of NFL-style football drills, basketball, soccer, relay races, video gaming, and much more!

Sponsored by The Calais Foundation, Touchdown for Success with the Gridiron Institute gives our students with special needs the opportunity to learn about health, fitness, teamwork, education and self-confidence from current and former NFL players. The interactive program also included a nutritious lunch, motivational message and fun gift bag for our students.

As part of Calais Week at Microsoft, Microsoft Bridgewater set up a gaming station for our students to play with the Xbox and Surface Pro 3. They worked with our students and reminded them that the are the types of creative minds and outside-the-box thinkers that will be making the next “big thing” in video games and software!

 

Coach Femia organized the day’s events with Gridiron Institute founder, Calais Foundation President, and former NFL player Damian Gregory. They were joined by the Gridiron Gang, current and former NFL players for the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns and a number of other teams. The NFLers motivated and cheered our students on, encouraging them to try their hardest and celebrate their achievements with some very creative touchdown dances! Former New York Giant Keith Elias motivated our students to  focus on the things they can do, instead of focusing on what they can’t do.

Coach Femia said,

It was very rewarding to see our students learning and exercising cooperatively. Our students worked hard and are to be commended for inspiring us all to be physically fit through their efforts. The Gridiron Institute worked well with our students and they continue to make our field days extra special. I believe Microsoft was an excellent teammate for us to have as they are instilling the principles of fitness through their gaming systems. When we add two of our students’ favorite things together, technology and exercise, we are setting ourselves up for success for the years to come.

Touchdown for Success is presented each year by The Calais Foundation and the Gridiron Institute. This year our generous sponsors included the generous McClafferty family and Partlow Insurance.  Our uniform sponsor Adessa, LLC, provided all of our t-shirts, water bottles, and towels. Cullari Carrico sponsored our halftime program and the delicious and healthy lunch for our students and staff. Our friends at Microsoft volunteered their time and expertise with our students on Field Day and throughout Calais Week at Microsoft with free workshops, field trips, and swag.

The generosity of our sponsors and the hard work and boundless enthusiasm of our volunteers, staff, and students made the day unforgettable for all who participated. And a special thank you to all the Calais staff and administration as well for their hard work and support in making this year’s field day the best we have ever had!

We can’t wait to see the Gridiron Institute and Microsoft again next year!