CVS ALUMNI DONATE MONEY TO THE SCHOOL’S ATHLETIC PROGRAM

The CVS Alumni Association supported the Chicago Vocational High School’s Athletic Department with a 5K walk and run. Photos provided by Melanie Brown
The CVS Alumni Association supported the Chicago Vocational High School’s Athletic Department with a 5K walk and run. Photos provided by Melanie Brown

CVS Alumni donate money to the school’s athletic program

BY TIA CAROL JONES
The CVS Alumni Association answered the call from the high school’s athletic department for support by hosting a 5K run and walk to raise funds. The Association was able to raise $5,000 which it will donate to the athletic department.

CVS Football Coach Craig Brown is an alum of the high school and has been working at CVS for 26 years, he also is an alum of the high school. He talked to Tawanda Perkins, president
of the CVS Alumni Association, about some of the needs that the department had.

“We just wanted to support, and most of it is moral support, because the pandemic hit our teenagers and athletes really really hard,” said CVS Alumni Association president Tawanda Perkins. “We also wanted to offer moral support to the student
athletes to let them know, ‘hey, we’re here to support you.’ We know how important athletics is to their high school experience.”

During the beginning of the pandemic, the student athletes’ season was uncertain. With school buildings closed for in-person learning, athletic programs were put on hold for the safety of the students and their coaches.

True Star Media developed a fourpart docuseries, “Champions Adjust,” to shed light on how COVID-19 affected the lives of student athletes. The docuseries found that the junior
and senior student athletes were affected the most because that were not able to play or been seen by college recruiters. Those students had to pivot and did so in really creative ways that included sending out videos of themselves working out
to the colleges.

One of the greatest needs from the athletic department was for Hudl, a platform that enables a sports team to record and upload film, as well as livestream content. The platform is used for scouting, recruiting and can be viewed on mobile phones and computers.

There were between 75-100 people that showed up. The event was planned in an eight-week span. The hope is to make the 5K walk and run an annual event. The goal is to give
the football team $2,000 and give the basketball team $2,000, with the rest going to the athletic department to decide how to spend it. The hope is that as time goes on, other sports and
athletics in the building will receive support from the Alumni Association.

“Speaking from an alumni perspective, it was probably one of the best things I have seen this Alumni Association, Inc. do, as far as for the school,” Brown said. “Outside of the graduation, this is the one of the first things I’ve seen them do towards athletics in our school.”

Brown’s first priority has been the students’ health and safety while participating in sports during the pandemic. The students have adjusted quite well and there is a sense of normalcy, with some students having achieved some success during their
seasons.

“As a 26-year employee and a 30- year Alumni here, I really appreciate the Alumni Association, Inc. stepping up and hopefully we will get more of our association and alums to
step in and aid in this so we can be the dominant Alumni Association in the city,” Brown said.

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