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Dunkirk youth get visit to Bills’ stadium

Field of dreams

The Buffalo Bills’ Cam Lewis signs an autograph. Students from Dunkirk’s intermediate school toured the Bills’ stadium.

Have you ever turned cartwheels in the Buffalo Bills’ end zone? There are a few children in Dunkirk right now who can say they have.

The Bills hosted 30 students from Dunkirk’s intermediate school — grades three to six — last week. It was because the Dunkirk school district placed fourth in around 300 schools doing the National Football League’s “Play60 Challenge,” which encourages children to exercise for at least one hour per day.

Phil Schneider, an intermediate school physical education teacher who joined the kids and helped oversee the program in Dunkirk, told the Board of Education later Tuesday that the top 30 children in exercise minutes got to go on the trip. The children attended the board meeting, too, showing off shirts autographed by Bills players.

“They paid for transportation,” Schneider said of the Bills. The children “got to meet nine Bills players today on the field. They got to go into the locker room and see Josh Allen’s locker stall. All the kids got red (Bills) shirts today and a gift bag and… a lot of them got autographs from the players.”

On the field, each of the Bills players in attendance did football-related exercise activities, such as shuttle runs and throwing accuracy practice, with the kids.

Submitted Photos Dunkirk schoolchildren pose for a photo last week on the Buffalo Bills’ home field.

“This is a life changing event for a lot of us,” Schneider said. “I mean, I’m 34 years old and this is my first time on the Bills’ field, so I can’t imagine what they were feeling.”

The Board of Education then saw a short video of photos and clips from the day, which included numerous images of the children turning cartwheels on the field. Big smiles were evident everywhere.

The children were asked about their favorite part of day. Most mentioned meeting the players and getting their autographs.

They also said the artificial turf field was “squishy,” after the recent heavy rains.

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