Over 300 Atholton freshmen and JROTC cadets watched in awe as BMX bikers flew over their heads across the AHS gymnasium. On Tuesday, rather than sitting in third period stressing over their classwork, students had the pleasure to go to an assembly. This assembly featured National Guard sponsored bikers in order to spread a message about the importance of a good attitude.
BMX biker Cory Yarbough explained, “Recently we were able to contact the National Guard to come up with the program name: the Bring Your A Game to School program, where we touch on a bunch of different A’s, which could be anti-bullying, attitude, achievement; pretty much anything that’s a positive message that we can incorporate into the ‘A’ Games.”
The Bring Your A Game to School program tours schools all across the country and U.S. territories, informing schools about the benefits of being in the National Guard and teaching students one of 7 important values starting with A, including, ‘alliance’, ‘ability’, ‘active’, and ‘authentic’.
The focus at this assembly was on attitude, and Yarbough spoke about how a positive attitude will lead to a successful life.
“I learned that if you don’t have a good attitude, even if you have a lot of talent, people are probably not gonna work with you. It’s all about the attitude, how you act,” said Jordan Fore, a freshman who attended the assembly.
Stunts performed at Atholton included riding bikes up ramps and jumping over Mr. Fales’ head, followed by the bikers soaring over the heads of four anxious students. According to JROTC student Andrew Bradshaw, the audience was captivated by these tricks; the show was “exhilarating.”
Although the feats of the bikers were amazing, the real purpose of the event was to provide an entertaining platform to promote the National Guard and the benefits it provides.
Yarbough furthered, “It’s a great way for kids who want to go to college that don’t necessarily know how they are going to pay for it, or what the National Guard stands for, to just get information without necessarily feeling like they are forced to be there. It’s entertainment value and information at the same time.”