LYNN — The Patriots gained a new fan base in a special group of students from Lynn English High School just in time for Super Bowl LII.
The Transitions Program, which has been a part of the high school for the past four years, was developed to help immigrant students become exposed to things they normally wouldn’t be able to. Program coordinators Ginny Keenan and Tiffany McFarlane believe the sky is the limit for these students.
“Our purpose is to help build their background knowledge and create trips that can help them relate to experiences that other kids may have had, that they haven’t,” said McFarlane.
Last week, Keenan, McFarlane and 19 of their students spent a day at Gillette Stadium learning all about New England’s beloved team. They toured the stadium and took part in a workshop that taught them about helmet safety, even allowing the kids to design some of their own.
The students were shown NFL helmets dating back 60 years, which showcased all of the safety improvements from over the years. After being given styrofoam bowls, pipe cleaners, Easter grass, paper, tape, and straws with some gel inside, they were told to design their own protective helmet.
“They had little makeshift brains, that looked like jello mold, with a leaky substance,” said McFarlane. “So they built the helmet with the materials given to them in order to make one that would be the most protective, and then they tested them.”
If the substance from the mold leaked at all then that would be equivalent to a head injury and they had to go back to the drawing board for a better design, according to Keenan.
Aside from learning about helmet safety, the students explored Gillette’s interactive museum which allowed them to test their strength against a Tedy Bruschi machine and compare themselves to a life-sized Vince Wilfork model. They also watched a 15-minute film about the team’s history and tried on official uniforms.
“Some of the kids, because they came here so recently, didn’t even know who the Patriots were, but believe me they all came away loving them,” said Keenan. “The Patriots gained a lot of new fans that day.”
Lucy Quiroa, who recently immigrated to Lynn from Guatemala, appreciated that the short film explained how the Pats went from a losing team to a winning legacy. The Lynn English senior has taken many trips with the program but said this one was her favorite.
“When I first moved here, I didn’t know anything about the Patriots and I used to see people in the streets with Patriots clothes on and didn’t know who they were,” she said. “I’m a huge fan now, I can’t wait to watch them win in the Super Bowl.”
