Week 3, after creating their own team jerseys, Shissler Recreation Center children, colored in Gritty, complete with his Flyers jersey! First they used crayons and markers to color in Gritty- many of the children opted to look him up to accurately depict his orange, black, and white ensemble. Then they were asked to answer three questions:
1. What are some ways you have PERSEVERED in hard situations and shown grit?
2. What are some ways Philadelphia has shown grit?
3. What does it mean to be a Philadelphian?
We discussed the word “perseverance” and what it means. It was explained that it means “to keep trying and overcome something that was really hard” to “persist and keep trying.” We related it to sports or school.
We also discussed the other Philadelphia team mascots like Fang, Swoop, Franklin the Dog, and of course, the Phillie Phanatic. We let them know that not all cities or towns have a sports team, and they are very lucky to be in a city that has all the professional teams to cheer on. They probably don’t realize it yet, but Philadelphia is a very famous, historic, unique, and amazing city, and they should all be proud to be a Philadelphian.
