Millions See BCPS Spirit for the Hometown Team and Ravens Coach Billick

Did you see them?

If you were watching the CBS “NFL Today” pre-game show on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, you and millions of others saw them – a spirited group of Seven Oaks Elementary School students, teachers, and parents whooping it up for the Baltimore Ravens, team Coach Brian Billick, and the Staples office supply company.

The “photo op” was part of the school’s reward for winning the “Staples Coach of the Week” contest. In a random drawing, Seven Oaks Elementary was chosen by CBS and the Staples office supply company to provide a boisterous lead-in to pre-game coverage on November 30.

But the cheering was only part of Seven Oaks’s prize. By winning the contest, Staples and the NFL will donate $5,000 to the school, and Coach Billick will visit Seven Oaks later in the school year.

So several days before the school’s moment in the NFL spotlight, Principal Carol Wingard rounded up several particularly enthusiastic students and members of her staff to show some Baltimore County spirit for CBS cameraman Kevin Rawllerson.

On a sun-splashed afternoon, Ms. Wingard and her team assembled in front of the Perry Hall school and went over their lines – most of which consisted of “Go Ravens!” For some added pep, students and parents who joined in brought their Ravens gear from home to display before the national audience, including a hat that looked like the head of an angry raven and plenty of pompoms and purple. Even the Perry Hall Girls Lacrosse program got a plug – on the shirt of a front-row youngster.

Rawllerson, a stringer for the national network, set up his camera and positioned his cast. He swept the assemblage as everyone cheered, and took some outside footage of the school as well. “This is good stuff,” he said, half to himself. “This will look good on Sunday.”

Being part of such a time-honored American pastime was all in a day’s work for Ms. Wingard, who herself had donned a grey Ravens sweatshirt for the moment. “This is the fun part,” she said. “Everyone’s been so excited about this today.”

The taping completed, everyone high-fived and congratulated one another before leaving for the long Thanksgiving weekend. It would be a weekend to remember, too, in the Seven Oaks community, not only for the turkey and the stuffing and the pumpkin pie for dessert, but for the exciting side dish of fleeting NFL celebrity on Sunday.

Go, Ravens!

Go, Seven Oaks!

See event photos

Story and Photos by Charles Herndon Communications Officer