BUTTE – Kids in Butte have high praise for NFL player Colt Anderson.
“He’s awesome,” shouted a pair of excited students.
On Monday, Colt personally praised this class of 4th graders from Kennedy Elementary for having the best attendance record for the year by making a surprise appearance at a pizza and bowling party at Star Lanes. Colt told the kids success starts with showing up.
“That’s the hardest thing is showing up, so these guys are showing and getting the work done and I want to just keep encouraging them to do the right things,” Anderson said.
The Butte native and safety for the Buffalo Bills started the Colt Anderson Dream Big Foundation with his wife to help children do their best.
“You know, we want to reward kids for doing the right things and we had an opportunity to work with Kennedy and it’s a great opportunity to get out and see these kids and make an impact,” Anderson said.
Some students were moved by his message of hard work.
“It’s very inspiring and most kids should listen to that because they believe like you don’t have to work that hard just to be a super star, you just got to be popular, they think that and it’s really not true,” said 4th grader Courtlyn Wilson.
Classmate Grady Foley added, “I think it’s pretty awesome that we get to meet the one person who’s in the NFL from Butte, Montana.”
More school officials are pushing the importance of good attendance.
“It’s paired with academic growth, because if they’re there and getting the materials, they’re not missing the gaps of being there and having that instruction every day, so it’s just so important in academic growth,” said Kennedy counselor Kerry Weigle.
Hard work has its reward. Each student received an autographed photo of Anderson.
