The Pearl River Central High School Football Team welcomed elementary students from both PRC elementary schools this past week in the school car and bus line.

The football players greeted students and passed out stickers, which displayed the district’s focus for this school year. The motto is, “Read, Lead, Succeed!”

Athletic Director Andy Kivlan organized the event at the suggestion of PRC middle school social studies teacher Connie Gore.

“She saw it on Facebook and said it would be a good idea for us. So then I coordinated it with Coach Eric Collins. I want to expand it to others like dance, cheerleading, ROTC, band and different organizations,” Kivlan said.

It will continue throughout the school year and will include different clubs, sports and organizations.

“It was great to see the excitement on the younger students’ faces; nothing beats that” Kivlan said. “This is a simple way to have our high school students involved in elementary students’ lives, and yet the impact was so huge.”

Kivlan also said the event wasn’t just a thrill for the younger students. The teachers enjoyed it as well and he noticed the huge smiles on the older kids too.

He explained that the school district is very tight-knit, with the high school and the middle school next to each other. And with the elementary school just five miles down the road, the morning greeting is a way for all the schools to come together.

Kivlan has expanded this new bonding activity to the cheerleading team and they are slated to go to the elementary school this morning.