Elementary schoolers in one town in Vermont's Rutland County got pumped up for this weekend's Super Bowl with a super day of classroom activities and lessons.
Sloan Weinberg, a second grade teacher, is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, home to the Chiefs. She decked out her classroom at Proctor Elementary School in red, the color of the Chiefs.
Now living in New England, among all the Patriots fans, you can imagine it gets a little lonely being a Chiefs fan.
"It's hard—it's difficult," Weinberg said, smiling.
With her team now looking for its first Super Bowl win in 50 years, Weinberg's students helped her cheer on the Chiefs Friday by wearing red or by borrowing team gear for the day.
"It's got one of my favorite colors in it," 7-year-old Leah Duchesne said of the logo of the Kansas City Chiefs, which she was wearing in the form of a jersey lent to her by Weinberg.
Robert Gee, 8, offered a prediction of the Super Bowl results.
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"The Chiefs are going to win by seven," the second-grader told NECN.
Even classroom learning Friday was NFL-themed. Weinberg had the students practice multiplying sixes and sevens to tally touchdowns and points after, then discussed the value of being a good sport.
"We just want them to be good citizens and people who have empathy and tolerance," Weinberg said of what she hopes the children took away from talking about sportsmanship. "And to be excited about stuff outside of their world, which is cool."
That lesson seemed to sink in with the class.
"I learned it's not all about who wins or not," 7-year-old Ella Durkee said. "It's about having fun."
"It matters how good they are and how nice they are," added Ben Scazza, also 7.
Second grader Cameron Moriarty, 7, also weighed in on the takeaway from the class.
"If you don't have sportsmanship, it won't be fun to play," Moriarty said.
Weinberg said she hopes that big lesson from the big game sticks with her students—long after the final play Sunday.
