Middle school students wage a super contest across miles
AURORA -- If things don't go the Bears' way today, Granger Middle School Principal Mary Kelly will find herself donning an Indianapolis Colts jersey Monday and singing a Colts fight song.
Granger and Carmel Middle School in Carmel, Ind., a suburb north of Indianapolis, have a Super Bowl wager going.
(Terence Guider-Shaw / Staff Photographer)
The challenge is this: The day after the game, the principal of the losing school must don the opposing team's shirt and run the team's flag up the school flagpole.
Additionally, the losing faculty must record a music video singing the opposing team's theme song, which will then be shown to the rival school.
Finally, the losing school must send food from their region (Chicago style pizza vs. Orville Redenbacher popcorn) to the other school.
Regardless of the game outcome, each school also will donate to the other's charity -- Walter Payton Cancer Fund for Granger and the PeyBack Foundation, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning's foundation, for Carmel.
Denise Jacobs, principal at Carmel Middle School, said the point of the challenge is to show team spirit and to give back to the community the same way that coaches Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy have throughout their careers.
The challenge came about when Carmel secretary Cheri Heck, who used to live in Naperville, called a colleague at Granger. They decided doing a friendly wager was a good way to show their football spirit, while giving back to the community as well as teaching the kids good sportsmanship.
"The kids are really excited, and they like the idea of competing with another school," Kelly said. "Especially this time of year; it's kind of a dreary time so it's good to do something fun."
A bit of friendly trash talking also has taken place, with Granger calling Carmel's chances "unlikely" and Carmel sending Granger pictures of their school with a Colts flag PhotoShopped onto the main flagpole.
nfawell@scn1.com
