Classroom Champions to Host February Live Chat Featuring Top Athlete Mentors

NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Classroom Champions, a non-profit athlete mentoring program, announced today that their third Student Champion Chat of the 2017-2018 school year, focused on the topic of Goal Setting, will stream live from South Korea on February 22 at 1:00 pm (ET).  

The chat will feature 4-5 of America's best athletes competing at the top levels of their sport including World Champion Bobsledder and Two-Time US Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor and World Champion Luger and 2014 US Olympic Bronze Medalist Erin Hamlin. Available via NBC Sports Group's youth sports division, SportsEngine, it will be open and free to every classroom in America by registering at www.studentchampionchats.org.

"We are thrilled to be able to offer our live chat series not only to our more than 100 classrooms across America but to all US schools who would like to participate," said World Champion bobsledder, Olympic Gold Medalist and Classroom Champions co-founder Steve Mesler. "Our athletes demonstrate amazing commitment, motivation, passion and perseverance and by sharing their personal journeys they can provide these kids with the tools they need to succeed in their daily lives. Schools across the country will be gathering in their gyms and auditoriums to interact with our athletes and hear their stories first hand, in a way that our kids are used to interacting with each other."

The 45-minute moderated chat will focus on Goal Setting, as each athlete will share their own story before issuing a goal-setting challenge to the students. Students will be able to ask questions and engage directly with the athletes via Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #CClivechats. Several lucky schools will be able to ask athletes questions live on the broadcast.

"Introducing these students to this level of athletes not only provides them with outstanding role models but also empowers them with the knowledge that the world's best athletes think they are worth investing time in, even as they are competing in the most important events of their careers," Mesler continued.  "With the support of NBC Sports Group, SportsEngine and the Department of Education, we hope to reach as many students as we can to teach them how to tackle small goals on the way to reaching bigger ones, and truly think like a Champion."

"I can't wait to hop on the chat and tell kids across the country about my experiences and what it was like for me when I was their age," said Classroom Champions mentor Erin Hamlin. "I've been mentoring students for six years through the program and this will be the first time I'll get to talk to them from this kind of stage. I'm excited for the February chat and I hope to see millions of kids joining me and my teammates!"

Previous chats in the Series focused on Teamwork (October 2017) and Perseverance (December 2017). The fourth and final chat of the Series will cover the topic of Healthy Living and will take place in April 2018.

About Classroom Champions:  Classroom Champions partners more than 125 world class athletes, para-athletes, college athletes and NFL players with more than 1,000 classrooms across North America.  Using the current digital landscape to scale their reach, the program utilizes monthly video lessons, live chats and in-class visits to build relationships between the athletes and students throughout the school year.

By using available technology, the athletes can give back to their communities while still maintaining their rigorous training and competition schedules.  Their mentoring provides social and emotional learning (SEL) support to students and teachers that builds on critical areas such as interpersonal skills, school engagement, digital literacy, perseverance and goal setting. 

This year, Classroom Champions has mentored its 25,000th student.  Their programming has operated in 7 countries, including the US and Canada, and continues to challenge students to recognize their potential, set goals and dream big while also educating them in the practical use of communications and technology.

About SportsEngine

Helping the world play smarter and live more, SportsEngine, Inc., an NBC Sports Group company, is the leading provider of Sport Life Management mobile applications for 14 million coaches, parents, and athletes, and Sports Relationship Management tools for governing bodies, leagues, clubs, associations and events. More than 1 million teams, leagues and clubs use SportsEngine to help reduce the time they spend on administrative tasks which enables them to focus more time on developing their athletes and furthering the love of sport. Learn more at:  www.sportsengine.com,  Facebook.com/sportsengine; or twitter.com/@sportsengine.

SOURCE Classroom Champions

Related Links

http://www.classroomchampions.org