The Bears School Outreach program wrapped up its 19th successful season on Tuesday, December 13 when linebacker Roy Robertson-Harris visited Austin Community Academy High School; cornerback Bryce Callahan visited Kelvyn Park High School; offensive lineman Eric Kush visited Bogan High School; and safety Adrian Amos visited Cameron Elementary School.
Bears punter Pat O'Donnell with a student from Youth Guidance's B.A.M (Becoming a Man) program.
Each year, the Chicago Bears and Youth Guidance partner on the Bears School Outreach program. As part of Bears School Outreach, Chicago Bears players visit Chicago Public Schools to speak to, motivate, and interact with students who are part of Youth Guidance's B.A.M (Becoming a Man) and W.O.W. (Working on Womanhood) programs.
B.A.M. focuses on six core values, including Integrity, Accountability, Self-Determination, Positive Anger Expression, Visionary Goal Setting, and Respect for Womanhood. W.O.W. focuses on five core values, including Self-Awareness, Emotional Intelligence, Healthy Relationships, Visionary Goal-Setting, and Leadership.
During B.A.M and W.O.W. sessions, the players and students are asked to "check-in" by saying how they are feeling physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Once everyone checks in, the B.A.M. and W.O.W. counselors will lead the session, either focusing on one of the core values, or on an issue that a student or students may be struggling with.
The sessions offer an open forum for students to discuss what is on their minds and hearts, and get feedback from their peers and leaders. The Bears players participate freely in the discussions, often sharing challenges that they faced growing up, which students are usually surprised to find aren't much different from what they are facing today.
During the 2016 season, 21 Bears players visited 22 different Chicago Public schools. Players who supported Bears School Outreach this year included Adrian Amos, Connor Barth, Bryce Callahan, Kyle Fuller, DeAndre Houston-Carson, Demontre Hurst, Alshon Jeffery, Christian Jones, Harold Jones-Quartey, Eric Kush, Jeremy Langford, Charles Leno, Jr., Cameron Meredith, Patrick O'Donnell, Chris Prosinski, Roy Robertson-Harris, Eddie Royal, Deonte Thompson, John Timu and Cornelius Washington.
