Buccaneers encouraged students and teachers recovering from recent school fire.
This morning, QB Jameis Winston and teammates TE Alan Cross, T Demar Dotson, S Keith Tandy and LS Garrison Sanborn, along with Buccaneers Cheerleaders and Captain Fear visited Lockhart Elementary School in Tampa. One of 24 Buccaneers Academy schools, Lockhart recently welcomed in students and teachers from Lee Elementary School which was devastated by a fire last week.
Nearly 330 students and more than 40 teachers are now spending the remainder of the year at Lockhart as the school and the community adjust to the devastating loss of their facility.
"We have combined two very awesome families, but it's a change," said Tamara Shamburger, Hillsborough County School Board Member for District 5. "They have lost their home, they have lost memories, they have lost years of hard work, so for our Lee Elementary students it's a change and it's difficult. But we're getting them settled and we appreciate the Tampa Bay Bucs coming to help welcome them to their new home."
On Tuesday, the Buccaneers split up into groups to visit every classroom at Lockhart, where they spoke about teamwork and overcoming adversity, encouraging students to rally around their new classmates.
"It was good to be here for them," said Winston. "Some of these kids don't know the magnitude of what's really going on so us being able to show our faces and show that we are there for them and we are one family, I know it meant a lot to them. They even taught me some things about how to be a great teammate, so today was a very successful day."
The Buccaneers Academy adopt-a-school program serves more than 16,000 students and 2,200 teachers that are located in mostly economically-distressed areas of Hillsborough County, FL. Each of the 24 schools are provided with curriculum-based programming from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that engage students and encourages learning, including regular visits from players, cheerleaders and from the Glazer Family Foundation Vision Mobile to provide children with free prescription eyeglasses. Each school also receives a Buccaneers Academy-themed court-sized shade cover that provides a safe environment where students can participate in physical health and wellness activities.
"Absolutely awesome and phenomenal," added Shamburger. We are so proud to have our partnership with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and for them to take time out of their day to speak with our students and encourage them. We are very grateful and thankful for that."
For more information on the Buccaneers Academy program, visit www.buccaneers.com/BucsAcademy.
