Jameis Winston To Host Buccaneers Academy Educational Huddle

TAMPA, FL – Jameis Winston is no stranger to the importance of education.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers second-year quarterback famously turned down a scholarship to play football Stanford University, even though he completed the challenging essay application and was accepted by the school.

That’s why Winston, along with Glazer Family Foundation Co-President Darcie Glazer Kassewitz, will host a Buccaneers Academy Educational Huddle for 100 underserved students on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.

The participating children all attend Buccaneers Academy schools – 24 Hillsborough County schools adopted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers through a curriculum-based program that encourages students and encourages learning. A majority of the two dozen schools are located in economically-distressed areas that lack some of the resources to educational success.

Winston, who serves as “quarterback” of the Buccaneers Academy, will speak to the students about the importance of schoolwork, determination and accomplishing one’s goals. Following Winston’s message, he will lead the students through PLAY 60 drills – an example of the Buccaneers Academy Player Experience carried out by team members throughout the season.

In addition to Winston’s educational huddle, the Glazer Family Foundation Vision Mobile will also be on hand providing screenings and presenting select students in need of vision assistance with brand new, free prescription glasses. To date, the Vision Mobile program has provided vision screenings to more than 66,000 students and distributed more than 9,100 free prescription glasses.

The event will take place on the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park lawn in front of the super-sized Buccaneers Academy shade structure recently donated by the Buccaneers. The oversized shade structure, which debuted Nov. 18, measures longer than the width of a football field (165 feet) and is 60 feet wide. The shade structure is currently being used by the Tampa Downtown Partnership’s Winter Village, but will also be available for other community-based events as well as Buccaneers Academy programming throughout the year, especially in the warmest summer months.

The Buccaneers Academy serves more than 14,000 students across Hillsborough County. Aside from receiving academic encouragement and vision screenings, the Buccaneers Academy schools have also received a court-sized shade cover that provides a safe environment where students can participate in physical health and wellness activities.

The Buccaneers Academy Educational Huddle is part of the team’s Bucs for a Better Bay initiative. For more information, visit http://www.buccaneers.com/community/.

Image via Jennifer Snyder, Flickr, used under Creative Commons