AURORA, Colo. — A third-grade class at Buffalo Trail Elementary is tackling more than just football. While learning about the NFL, these students are also building skills in geography, reading, and math, and recently, they got the surprise of a lifetime of a special visit from Miles the Mascot.
Dr. Sarina Pal has been teaching for more than two decades, but her love doesn't stop at teaching, she's a big Denver Broncos fan, too. One step inside her classroom makes it clear why students adore her, as orange and blue fill the room, right alongside the University of Miami colors which she cheers for just as proudly.
"I've told them that I've been to two Super Bowls, so I went when they played Seattle, which was, you know, it was heartbreaking. Although, going to New York was really fun. Then, I went when they played in San Francisco, and I showed them pictures and everything, so they see like the real world connections and ticket prices. We go over all of that." Pal said.
Typically, Pal said she brings the football excitement into the classroom around the Super Bowl. However, this year is her first time teaching with a curriculum thanks to NFeLementary which was created by Mary Crippen who has gone viral on social media.
"I joined the program, and I saw that one of the things that the students do is that not only do they draft a team and follow it, they see their wins, losses, the geography, the time zone, but they write letters and I was really like, that's amazing, because kids these days don't write letters," Pal said.
While the students may be die-hard Broncos fans, each one also follows a different team all season long. Each week, the class reviews wins and losses, while also building math skills like using the points scored to calculate the total sum of each game.
Earlier this year, students sent out letters to all 32 teams in the NFL and these third graders could hardly contain their excitement. However, Pal had to remind her young fans that teams are busy, and answers don't always come quickly.
"We had conversations, though, about the fact that teams are busy and...they get thousands and thousands of letters," explained Pal. "But, I guess with third graders, it's like you want to see something come back, so maybe we should start writing family members first before we write NFL teams, but it's been really fun."
Little did these students know, a much bigger surprise was already in the works with a visit from Miles.
"I was thinking that we were just going to come in to the normal thing that we always do, and that then we were in the middle of working and Miles came in," third grader Brooklyn Cihura said.
Miles took time with every student, from snapping pictures to handing out autographs, turning an ordinary school day into a moment they'll never forget. The thrill left third grader Kavilan Sakthivel searching for words. "I was, my mind was like, bursting out," he said. "Like, I had to get some water to calm me down."
Now, Miles wasn't the only surprise. Broncos players also wrote back to the students, sharing words of wisdom with their young fans. The team even posted a TikTok featuring the class's letters, which Pal proudly showed her students.
A reminder in this game of life that sometimes the best lessons and the biggest moments come when you least expect them.
"I've always been a huge sports fan, so this is really cool that I can be with a teacher who really likes football, sports," Cihura said.
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