Now in its ninth year, the Red Wings School Assembly Team has visited 790 local schools, reaching more than 380,000 students and providing more than 1,500 sets of floor hockey equipment to physical education departments throughout southeastern Michigan. Notable players and alumni such as Justin Abdelkader, Pavel Datsyuk, Danny DeKeyser, Kris Draper, Darren Helm, Jimmy Howard, Niklas Kronwall, Kirk Maltby, Gustav Nyquist and Chris Osgood have each attended an assembly.
Witkowski and the Red Wings School Assembly Team will introduce elementary students to the sport of hockey through a street and floor hockey initiative. The Red Wings will provide equipment and hands-on instruction to familiarize students with the sport of hockey and to encourage an active and healthy lifestyle. The School Assembly Team opens every program with an interactive lesson on exercise, healthy eating, the growing issue of bullying and importance of celebrating cultural differences, and the importance of saving for college or higher education, followed by an energetic hockey shootout competition pitting students against teachers.
Each school visited by the School Assembly Program will receive two full sets of floor hockey equipment complete with Red Wings-branded hockey sticks and nets. Returning this season, the Detroit Red Wings Foundation will continue to provide each gym teacher with information on how to properly teach floor hockey at their school. Teaming up with USA Hockey, the Detroit Red Wings Foundation created guide books to be given to gym teachers at every assembly, which include information on proper techniques, drills and activities for kids to better learn the game of hockey and develop a passion for the sport.
In addition to the hockey equipment, every student receives an educational Red Wings folder from the Detroit Red Wings and an informational brochure on college savings strategies, courtesy of Michigan Education Savings Program. In partnership with RISE (The Ross Initiative for Sports Equality), every teacher will now receive a RISE Teacher Kit to help students explore cultural aspects of the countries from which Red Wings players hail.
A special fundraising initiative administered by the Red Wings School Assembly Program has helped local students raise more than $240,000 for a variety of charitable endeavors.
For more information on the Red Wings School Assembly Program, or to register your school for an assembly for the upcoming 2018-19 season, visit DetroitRedWings.com/SchoolAssemblyProgram.
About Saint Joseph Mercy Health System:
Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is a health care organization serving seven counties in southeast Michigan including Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Jackson, and Lenawee. It includes 537-bed St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, 443-bed St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, 304-bed St. Mary Mercy Livonia, 136-bed St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, and 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. Combined, the five hospitals are licensed for 1,553 beds, have five outpatient health centers, six urgent care facilities, more than 25 specialty centers; employ more than 16,200 individuals and have a medical staff of nearly 2,700 physicians. SJMHS has annual operating revenues of about $1.9 billion and returns about $120 million to its communities annually through charity care and community benefit programs.
SJMHS is a member of Trinity Health, a leading Catholic health care system based in Livonia, Mich. Trinity Health operates in 22 states, employs about 133,000 people, has annual operating revenues of about $17.6 billion and assets of about $24.7 billion. Additionally, the organization returns almost $1.1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs.
For more information on health services offered at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, please visit www.stjoeshealth.org.
About the Michigan Education Savings Program:
MESP is one of three Michigan Section 529 plans, all of which offer Michigan taxpayers a state income tax deduction on contributions and potential tax-free growth on any earnings if account proceeds are used to pay for qualified higher education expenses. MESP can be used at any eligible college, university or trade school in the nation for a variety of qualified expenses, including tuition, mandatory equipment, fees, certain room and board costs, supplies and books. Limitations apply. See the MESP Disclosure Booklet for details. To learn more about MESP, visit MIsaves.com or contact us at 877-861-6377.
