INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Lessons in life don’t always come from obvious places.
Just ask students at three Independence elementary schools. The kids got a visit from some of their hockey heroes, who were on hand to deliver an important message.
Once in a while, heart-to-heart instruction comes from hard-hitting role models. Every month, Missouri Mavericks hockey players visit Independence public schools, where they discuss “the word of the month.”
Independence School District leaders have covered the calendar, assigning one positive character trait to each month. The Mavericks hockey team assists in the project, making it their goal to reward kids who excel in learning those traits.
“People always say playing a sport is very relevant to what you do in life in work and in school,” Mavericks defenseman Marty Lee said. “For us, it’s something very natural.”
Lee points to this month’s character trait — cooperation — showing kids how it even applies to their sport.
“You see it all the time. When guys try to be individuals, things fall apart pretty quickly,” Lee said.
The Mavericks players reinforce character traits such as respect, courage and self-control. Kids at these schools say they hear the messages all the time, but it means more when a sports celebrity says it.
“You have to work together,” Korte Elementary School kindergartner Bennett Oney said. “If they don’t, they’ll lose the hockey game.”
“I learned you have to have good sportsmanship to play a game,” Spencer Haug, Procter Elementary School second-grader, said. “They said even though they lost, they still had a good attitude.”
“Maybe that message will sink in and they’ll carry it with them for as long they want to keep listening to it,” Lee said.
Sometimes, the information makes a greater impact when it comes from those we look up to.
The Mavericks begin a weekend homestand on Friday night. They’ll host Quad City in back-to-back home games at the Independence Events Center, as they enter the final 20 games of the season.
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