| Program designed to provide the South Florida youth the opportunity to learn how to achieve their dreams and become tomorrow’s leaders |
| Miami Lakes, Fla. – On Saturday, June 13, the Orange Bowl held a virtual celebration to acknowledge and recognize the nearly 300 students in the Orange Bowl Leadership Academy, an after-school mentoring program for students in select Broward and Miami-Dade middle schools. Over 350 participants, parents, siblings, friends, teachers and administrators participated in the virtual celebration. All students and teacher-facilitators were recognized, with a special emphasis on eighth-graders who are moving on to high school. The Orange Bowl and its program sponsors also recognized one student from each school who particularly stood out throughout the year with a special Emerging Leader Award as chosen by the teacher-facilitators. “Congratulations for your accomplishments in the Orange Bowl Leadership Academy,” said Orange Bowl President and Chair Jeff Rubin in addressing the students. “The fact that each of you has taken the time and made a commitment to be part of the Academy says a lot about you and your character. It is these accomplishments in your life that will carry you forward to be bright, educated and charismatic young men and women. You are building your own future. It’s up to you and you are well on your way!” “The Florida Lottery continues to be a dedicated partner to education in Florida, helping more than 840,000 students attend college through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program,” said Florida Lottery Chief of Staff Samantha Ferrin, one of Orange Bowl’s sponsors in the Leadership Academy. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to helping students achieve their dreams and we are proud to partner with an organization like the Orange Bowl Committee that shares this passion and commitment. We look forward to what the future brings as we continue to help equip Florida’s students and schools with the tools needed to succeed.” Currently, nearly 300 students in nine middle schools are enrolled in the Orange Bowl Leadership Academy. Five schools are located in Broward County (Bair Middle School, Lauderdale Lakes Middle School, McNicol Middle School, Plantation Middle School, and Sunrise Middle School), and four schools are from Miami-Dade (Georgia Jones-Ayers Middle School, Horace Mann Middle School, Madison Middle School and North Miami Middle School). The Orange Bowl Leadership Academy was created to provide South Florida youth the opportunity to dream and develop a plan to achieve those dreams, to set and achieve personal goals and objectives, and to understand their options in life for success at home, their careers, and in the community. The Academy primarily operates through workshops and interactive activities conducted by Orange Bowl Committee staff, members and community partner professionals. From October through March until the Covid-19 pandemic shut down schools, students in the program met twice a month after school with teachers and mentors who are Orange Bowl Committee members. The students also met with guest speakers like professionals with Florida Lottery and took occasional field trips for behind-the-scenes tours of locations such as a Florida Blue Center, a Bank of America Financial Center, an AutoNation dealership, Cinch Home Services, First Tee of Broward at the PGA Superstore, and the University of Miami. These sessions are designed to inspire and unleash individual youth potential and leadership, while also creating career development awareness, knowledge and opportunities. Support for the Orange Bowl Leadership Academy is provided by the College Football Playoff Foundation, whose philanthropic initiatives are directed toward education generally and more specifically teachers, through its Extra Yard for Teachers program. The Orange Bowl Leadership Academy receives additional support from sponsors AutoNation, Bank of America, Cinch Home Services, Comcast, Deloitte, Florida Blue, Florida Lottery, the Florida Power & Light Company and KEMET. The Orange Bowl Leadership Academy is funded partially from the proceeds of the annual Orange Bowl Food & Wine Celebration presented by Florida Blue. To become involved and learn more about the Orange Bowl Leadership Academy, please visit orangebowl.org. ### |
| About the Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is a 380-member, primarily-volunteer non-profit sports organization that promotes and serves the South Florida community. With its primary mission since being created in 1935 to bring tourism to South Florida through an annual football game and events, it has also maintained a legacy of charitable contributions and community outreach. Orange Bowl community outreach efforts are comprised of four pillars: youth sports, fundraising and community events, academic programs and scholarships, and legacy gifts. The Orange Bowl features a year-round schedule of events culminating with the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021. The Orange Bowl also led a community-wide effort to bring the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship to South Florida. It will be played on Jan. 11, 2021 (2021miami.com). For more information on the 2020-2021 Orange Bowl events, including promotional and volunteer opportunities through the Ambassador Program presented by Panera Bread, log on to orangebowl.org or follow the @OrangeBowl on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. |
