Redskins Players, Wives Aid Annual Skins Santa ... - Washington Times

WASHINGTON TIMES ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT Thursday • February 4 • 2016 | A THE WASHINGTON TIMES

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Join our team. The mission of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation is to make a positive and measurable impact in the lives of children in our community. @RedskinsGiveBack @RedskinsCR Redskins.com/Community

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2015—2016 Redskins Read Program n an effort to make reading more fun for elementary school students, the Redskins Charitable Foundation created the Redskins Read Program focusing on a playbook for students to study the Xs and Os of reading!

The Redskins Read Playbook provides monthly prompts that encourage students to critically analyze a book(s) of their choice, focusing on different areas of the story (e.g. characters, setting, plot). This supplemental learning tool, supplied to all

participating schools at no cost to them, incentivizes 4th and 5th grade students by providing monthly prizes and the chance to host a Redskins event with current players at their school this spring! The program runs from September 2015 – March 2016.

Interested in receiving more program information for the 2016-2017 school year? Visit redskins.com/readingwaitlist

Check out the 2015-2016 Redskins Read Honor Roll below! School District

School Name

School District

Aiton Elementary School

District of Columbia Public Schools

Lake Arbor Elementary School

Prince George’s County Public Schools

Alfred Kiger Savoy Elementary School


Lamont Elementary School


John Burroughs Elementary School


Lewisdale Elementary School


Leckie Elementary School


Magnolia Elementary School


Martin Luther King Jr Elementary School


Mattaponi Elementary School


Patterson Elementary School


Montpelier Elementary School


Raymond Education Campus


North Forestville Elementary School


The Walker Jones Education Campus


Northview Elementary School


Saratoga Elementary School

Fairfax County Public Schools

Overlook Elementary School


Banneker Elementary School

Loudoun County Public Schools

Phyllis E. Williams Elementary School


Catoctin Elementary School


Pointer Ridge Elementary School


Creightons Corner Elementary School


Potomac Landing Elementary School


Forest Grove Elementary School


Princeton Elementary School


Frances Hazel Reid Elementary School


Rockledge Elementary School


Frederick Douglass Elementary School


Springhill Lake Elementary School


Guilford Elementary School


Valley View Elementary School


Hamilton Elementary School


Whitehall Elementary School


Meadowland Elementary School


Rolling Ridge Elementary School


Seldens Landing Elementary School


Sterling Elementary School


Steuart Weller Elementary School


Sugarland Elementary School


Sully Elementary School


Accokeek Academy


Andrew Jackson Academy


Apple Grove Elementary School


Ardmore Elementary School


Beltsville Academy


Cora L. Rice Elementary School


Doswell E. Brooks Elementary School


Edward M. Felegy Elementary School


Gaywood Elementary School


Glenridge Elementary School


Greenbelt Elementary School


Heather Hills Elementary School


High Bridge Elementary School


Highland Park Elementary School


A WASHINGTON TIMES ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT THE WASHINGTON TIMES | Thursday • February 4 • 2016

School Name

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The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation is a proud to partner in Junior Achievement of Greater Washington’s Finance Park in Prince George’s County. The new 13,500 square foot center offers an innovative and dynamic ecosystem where students experience the challenges of making real-life financial situations. Students work on tablet computers and are led by volunteer role models from the community, following Junior Achievement’s unique 14-lesson, in-classroom curriculum

taught by their classroom teachers. More than 9,000 PGCPS students will visit the center each year. The Redskins Charitable Foundation sponsored the Career Center. Once the students have completed the experience, they enter the Career Center, and through an interactive system learn about different careers and the education and experiences they will need in order to achieve their goals.

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OFFICIAL SOFT DRINK OF THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS

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Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation Hosts Inaugural Back To School Fair


The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, with the help of Catholic Charities, on Aug. 22 hosted its inaugural Back To School Fair at FedExField.

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By Andrew Walker Redskins.com

A large portion of the club level at FedExField turned into a makeshift dentist’s office on Saturday, Aug. 22, when the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, with the help of Catholic Charities, hosted its inaugural Back To School Fair. The Back To School fair, designed to give low-income children a central place to be completely prepared for the upcoming school year, provided its participants with a variety of goods and services, such as dental exams, school physicals, eye exams, haircuts and brand new school

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supplies and backpacks. As they watched their two children – Arndre, 10, and Paris, 7 – finish up an exam with one of the many dentists on hand, Tiarra Price and Collin Edwards of Maryland said they were incredibly appreciative of the opportunity to take part in the event. “I think it’s so nice what they’re doing,” Price said. “Because a lot of people don’t have health insurance or might not have the money to get school supplies, so I think this is a great event.” Jane Rodgers, executive director of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, said the inaugural Back To School Fair was built around the opportunity to provide dental services to children who otherwise might not get the chance to have a cleaning, X-Ray or a baby tooth extraction in the near future.

“Dental is the No. 1 thing children living in challenging circumstances or poverty don’t have access to or they don’t have insurance for,” Rodgers said. “And we all know our smile is of our calling card, so we want to make sure the kids have a great smile. So that was the No. 1 thing we started with, and then we built backwards off that, so a child that’s coming here will get everything they need.” From the dentist’s chair to the barber’s chair, the children also had the chance to get a free haircut courtesy of Hair Cuttery – because, as Rodgers said, there’s nothing better than “going back to school with a fresh haircut” – as well as a gift card for a free pair of shoes, new socks courtesy of Under Armour and a nice, new colorful Redskins backpack accompanied by every essential school supply for the upcoming year. The participating families also received two tickets to the Redskins-Jaguars preseason game Sept. 3 at FedExField. Manning the backpack station at the

event was two-time Super Bowl champion Ravin Caldwell. The former Redskins linebacker, a fixture at Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation events throughout the year, said “what they’re doing for the community is great, and I will always continue to support them.” “The whole event – if you go down there and see what they’re doing with the dental and back-to-school stuff – it’s amazing,” said Caldwell, who joined fellow Redskins alums Jeris White, Dan Ryzcek, Clarence Vaughn, Darryl Pounds, Darnerien McCants, Tyronne Drakeford, Chris Draft and the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders at the event. “They do a great job, and I’m proud to be a part of it.” Rodgers said she was appreciative of all the other Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation’s partners who helped out at the inaugural Back To School Fair, too, including the Kellar Family Foundation, Children’s National Health System, Coca-Cola, Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, the National Center for Missing

and Exploted Children, TeamSmile and University of Maryland School of Public Health. But the relationship the foundation has with Catholic Charities, especially, helped make the event an over-the-top success. “We see them as a group that really serves our most vulnerable in society,” Rodgers said. “They serve thousands of young people, as well as adults, in the area. So we came together to join forces to identify things that they might have access to that we didn’t, and they’ve been an incredible partner.” The ultimate goal for the Back To School Fair, Rodgers said, is to make it an annual event to serve, at a minimum, 400 children each year. “And as we continue to bring on more partners, we’ll continue to grow this event to serve more children and hopefully make a deep impact in the community,” she said.


SCHOOL

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Redskins Players, Wives Aid Annual Skins Santa Shoppe Welcoming 200 local elementary school students to FedExField, the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation on Dec. 15 hosted its annual Skins Santa Shoppe along with several Redskins players and wives. By Jake Kring-Schreifels Redskins.com

The Redskins locker room at FedExField functions in a variety of ways during the football season. Mostly, it is a place to change clothes, a place of meditation, of focus, of frustration and exhilaration, and it can all be quite smelly. So it was quite a surprise for the 200 local elementary school students visiting the stadium Monday, Dec. 15, and quite

frankly for the players, too, to see the same locker room serve in another, transformative way – as Santa’s workshop. “Usually when I come in here it’s a different switch that gets put on in my head,” safety Kyshoen Jarrett said. “But right now, I’m feeling all nice and warm and fuzzy inside.” It was hard not to feel that way. Cleaned up and decorated with Christmas colors, tables of toys and stuffed animals and filled with some holiday music, the locker room,

filled with active Marines, welcomed the elementary students, who filed in group by group to greet Santa Claus and rush to a locker with their name above it and a gift beneath it. It was the biggest surprise and lasting impression of the annual “Skins Santa Shoppe,” put on by the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, which took on an expanded and highly entertaining format this time over years past. Along with teachers and chaperones,

children from Thomson Elementary School and Cleveland Elementary School arrived at FedExField for the first shift of the day, later followed by Ardmore Elementary School and Apple Grove Elementary School. A meal awaited them as well as several Redskins players and Redskins wives, who sat and talked over lunch and then assisted with their assigned groups on the stadium’s club level.

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believe that is going to make their year, not even their day, their year,” she said. “I’m excited for them because they’re excited.” “The Charitable Foundation does such a good job of finding these schools that really need our help,” said Kiersten Allen, wife of Redskins President Bruce Allen. “Each one of the [students] didn’t know what to expect, so watching them go to each station, and they’re just so excited, they can’t imagine that they actually get a gift at the end as well.”

As they unwrapped their gifts – many of which were action figures, books and board games – students raced over to show Santa and collected a candy cane, a sweet end to a sweet day. “Seeing the kids open up their presents…it’s just a great feeling,” said Jarrett, who had never had an opportunity like this as a kid. “I’m feeling that type of experience with them as well, so I’m excited, definitely.”


Those that attended – linebackers Houston Bates , Ryan Kerrigan and Trent Murphy, running back Alfred Morris , wide receiver Jamison Crowder , specialists Dustin Hopkins , Nick Sundberg and Tress Way, safety Kyshoen Jarrett and offensive lineman Arie Kouandjio – joined in helping with the arts and crafts tables, the photo booth and the cupcake making. “I think the most important way to give is your time and your efforts, to allow and show people that you care,” Morris said. “We all have a form of influence and we have to do what we can to utilize that influence for the best. That’s why we’re here, just hope that they pay it forward.” Morris was one of many players asked about his favorite Christmas songs, his favorite foods and what a regular day is like in the NFL. In just those couple of hours, eating and interacting, Morris was happy to provide an experience that the students, many of whom come from underprivileged backgrounds, rarely got. “I was these kids once upon a time,” Morris said. “Just to come out here and do this especially around the holidays is awesome because I remember times growing up we didn’t have presents under the tree.” Each group visited a different station before rotating to the next. The activities involved gluing together Popsicle sticks to make Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer photo frames. Another one included wrapping players in red and white streamers to decorate each of them as Santa Claus. The final station allowed students to create their own holiday-themed cupcake, supplied by Amphora Bakery. While waiting in line, Way kept the excitement going by squeezing some icing into willing mouths.

“Watching these kids and the excitement that they have, and then being so thrilled to see Santa, to be able to be a part of a little kid’s Christmas like that,” Way said, “you can’ t beat that.” For Danielle Peterson, a technology teacher at Apple Grove Elementary, many children at the event weren’t just thrilled to spend time with Santa, but to see their favorite players, as well. “I know that we have several who are definitely diehard Redskins fans and I

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