Practice is Canceled!  High School Coach Says Volunteer Instead

HIgh school volunteer opportunities don't often fall out of the sky but they did for the students at Bethel Park High School.  Coach Brian DeLallo upheld a school tradition when he canceled class and sent out this tweet to spend Monday's workout shoveling snow for an elderly or disabled neighbor.  What happened next is service at it's finest! 

The weight room is not the first place many administrators consider when planning high school volunteer opportunities.  But Coach Brian DeLallo saw an opportunity to teach his players how their strength can protect others off the field just the way they do their teammates.

In a tweet Sunday (shown below), Coach DeLallo cancelled weightlifting Monday and instructed his team to "Find and elderly or disabled neighbor and shovel their driveway.  Don't accept any money - that's our Monday workout." 

As one CBS affiliate reports, more than 6 inches of snow fell that day.  Using estimates from FEMA, those six inches of snow can weigh anywhere from 1.5 to over 10 lbs per square foot depending on moisture density.  Quite a haul for an elderly neighbor but what an incredible high school volunteer opportunity for team members to flex their muscles!  And did they ever!  The students quickly started texting photos of themselves clearing driveways, challenging others on the team to do the same. 

In an interview with the local news station, Coach DeLallo shares how this high school volunteer opportunity may be creative but it is far from the first time.  According to Pittsburgh's Action 4 News, "the shoveling workout started with the previous coach, more than a decade earlier, but he thinks he may have been the first to tweet it."

Shortly after shovels hit the driveway, the community rallied around this incredible high school volunteer opportunity:

The full interview with video from Action 4 News Pittsburgh showing the team in action can be found here.  Quite the game plan coach and job well done thinking creatively to provide a top high school volunteer opportunity that gets your students excited, community engaged and driveways passable!  

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