The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- March 15, 1999

'School is Cool' at Nebraska jam

There were thousands of screaming kids, a legendary coach, famous student-athletes, the governor and a tall red mascot -- all doing the chicken dance at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. And those weren't even the highlights.

At the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, last year, 14,000 students from 262 Nebraska schools attended the National Student-Athlete Day celebration known as the Best of America "School is Cool" Jam.

The jam -- which has been held at Nebraska for the past seven years -- featured appearances by Gov. Ben Nelson, former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne and NU mascot Lil' Red, along with several Nebraska student-athletes.

The jam was sponsored by the Nebraska athletics department, which worked with the Lincoln public schools' department of special education, the Golden Key Honor Society and Pi Lambda Theta, an education honor society.

For nearly two hours, Nebraska fourth through sixth graders listened to the speakers -- who included football player Bobby Newcombe, volleyball player Fiona Nepo, gymnast Shelly Bartlett and basketball player Cisco Gilmore -- as they discussed respect, setting goals and following dreams.

"It's a good idea to use important people," Melissa Belt, an 11-year-old attendee told the Lincoln Journal Star. "Parents tell us this all the time, and we don't listen."

Nebraska gymnasts treated the crowd to a demonstration of their skills and a dunk fest that featured several student-athletes leaping over Lil' Red. Nebraska's Golden Key president, Chris Linder, delivered a message stressing courtesy, honesty and listening skills.

After the main event, the jam went on the road to another 3,500 young people gathered at Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte. There the jam was joined by Huskers football players Joel Makovicka and Dan Alexander, along with volleyball player Mandy Monson.

"When you give to someone else, this enables them to give to others," Alexander told the students. "Everyone has special gifts. Live your lives around giving back."

Jam organizers point out that this philosophy is embraced year-round by the student-athletes at Nebraska.

"It's important to know that we don't just do these big pep rallies," Keith Zimmer, Nebraska's CHAMPS/Life Skills coordinator told the Omaha World-Herald. "Our athletes are doing a lot more one-on-one things such as hospital visits and mentoring programs."

Zimmer said he modeled it after an NBA program called the "NBA Stay in School Rally."

Zimmer adapted the program to fit Nebraska's needs. "The advice we got from educators was, 'Don't just lecture to the kids. Try to show them something through athletics demonstrations and entertainment that also has a message behind it,' " he said.

Nebraska plans a similar program for this year, with scheduled performances by last year's presenters as well as by world footbag champion Brian McKenzie and members of the Huskers' softball team.

"If you have any hope at all of having a message stick with a fourth through sixth grader, you have to be creative about how to get that message in there," Zimmer said. "We do it through demonstration and entertainment, not just lectures."