BATON ROUGE, La. – On Tuesday April 21, LSU student-athletes and staff had the opportunity to re-live their elementary school days by participating in field day at University Terrace Elementary.
Not only is the school conveniently located at the foot of LSU’s campus, but it also gave the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes Shaquille O’Neal Life Skills Program the opportunity to help student-athletes and staff live out their motto of, “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve.”
The playground of the local Baton Rouge school was filled with nine stations of soccer games, tire flipping, balloon races, basketball scooter races, and more. The student-athletes and staff were in charge of manning each station and making sure the U. Terrace students were having fun.
Victor Smith, staff member at University Terrace, said that “Just having the Life Skills Program involved really took our field day to another level. The organization of the events were executed flawlessly and it speaks highly of the staff at the Life Skill Program.”
The CCCSA Shaquille O’Neal Life Skills Program worked closely with Smith to help coordinate and facilitate the field day activities to help make the students day one to remember.
Laura Whalen, LSU volleyball player, was in charge of the basketball scooter races during field day. While working this station, Whalen remembered her field day and felt nostalgic. Whalen said that when she was in elementary school, “I loved doing relay races with my friends.”
The two hour field day gave the students a chance to relax, have fun and forget about schoolwork said Smith. “I know it meant the world to the kids to have the athletes and staff from LSU involved with the events,” said Smith.
After the day was over, Whalen said that she hopes that “the kids remember how fun working together can be and hopefully they will remember us cheering them on.”
The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes is a 54,000 square foot facility comprised of academic affairs, student affairs and an information technology teams, serving more than 530 student-athletes. The purpose is to provide an all-inclusive, student-centered support structure for all student-athletes from matriculation, through graduation and life beyond.