Boston Public Schools (BPS) and the Boston Bruins hosted an event last week at the James F. Condon K-8 School to celebrate their new partnership, stemming from the Bruins’ generous donation to the district to further support the fitness and physical education of city youth.
The Bruins — owned by Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs — donated close to $80,000 worth of Franklin Sports street hockey equipment to nearly 80 elementary and K-8 Boston public schools through the Boston Bruins B-Fit School Assembly Program. Each participating school received a set of Bruins-branded hockey sticks, goals, goalie gear, balls, and other equipment needed for both indoor and outdoor street hockey.
With the Bruins’ donation, nearly 25,000 BPS students have access to street hockey equipment in their schools. The aforementioned number includes about 13,500 students in grades 3-5 who will use the hockey equipment as part of their physical education curriculum. Charlie Jacobs, CEO of Delaware North’s Boston Holdings, was joined at the event by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans, Executive Director of the Boston Bruins Foundation Bob Sweeney and BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang.
“The Boston Bruins are proud to support the Boston Public Schools and are committed to enhancing the physical education program at the district’s schools,” Jacobs said. “Through this donation, we are hopeful that thousands of students will be introduced to hockey, and that the equipment will be used to further promote physical activity and healthy competition in schools.”
In addition to the equipment donation, the Bruins organization is also awarding funds to help BPS sustain the use of an online fitness assessment tool, called Fitnessgram, beyond the 2018-19 school year. To support its fitness education programming, the district uses this innovative software to enhance a school’s ability to teach fitness in physical education classes, as it allows students to set fitness goals and receive personalized fitness reports.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left to right are William B. Evans, commissioner of the Boston Police Department; Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk; Robert Chisholm, principal of Condon School; Martin J. Walsh, mayor of Boston; Charlie Jacobs, CEO of Delaware North’s Boston Holdings; and John
Whitesides, Boston Bruins director of health, fitness and wellness.