Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Jim Unis Discussion

Hello again, we are posting this recent event for our A5 kids.  We had the inspirational speaker, Jim Unis talk with our A5 and ASL kids.  All I can say is WOW!  What an incredible experience for anyone.  Inspiration, yes!  Motivation, yes!  Wanting to do more and better with my life, YES!  Here is a write-up about Jim Unis.  In the next few weeks our A5 kids will be writing what their experience was like, listening to Jim.  Enjoy.

Jim Unis to speak to O’Maley Academy A5 and ASL classes on Wednesday 3/22 at 2:20 in the O’Maley Gym

On Wednesday, 3/22 at 2:20, Jim Unis, former Gloucester star High School football player who graduated in 2001 and was inducted into the Gloucester High School Hall of Fame last year, will talk to the students about preparing for college, and life, while in high school, being recruited by Boston College, and the diagnosis of post-concussion syndrome which completely altered his life path.

We invite any interested parents and teachers to join us to hear Jim Unis speak and answer questions! For More information, please contact Mr. Epple the A5 teacher.


From a 2011 Gloucester Times Article:

Never has Gloucester football seen a physical freak of nature like Jim Unis. The 6-foot-5-inch, 225-pound defensive end and tight end wreaked havoc on Northeastern Conference opponents from his freshman year in 1998 to his senior year in 2001…

"In the Super Bowl his freshman year one of our players got hurt so we had to put him in on defense," Ingram explained. "Within a few plays it was obvious that he was the best defensive player on the field." By the time his career at Gloucester was over, Unis was the Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year in 2001, the Northeastern Conference MVP in 2001, a three-time Northeastern Conference All-Star and a two-time All Scholastic. His most impressive accolade came early in 2002 when he played in the US Army All-American game in Texas amongst the best players in the country including Haloti Ngata (now of the Baltimore Ravens) and Vince Young (now of the Philadelphia Eagles).
"Unis' tenacity and hustle shone through," said RIVALS.com about Unis' ability against the Nation's best. "He was the star of all the East practices — everybody was wowed by him throughout the week." From Gloucester he went on to Boston College where he played in eight games at defensive end as a true freshman. His promising career, however, came to an early end when he was forced to stop playing the sport due to concussion problems. Had he stayed healthy it's widely believed that he would be playing in the National Football League to this day.





File_002.jpeg

File_008.jpeg

File_005.jpeg

Evening with A5 Responses

Welcome!  We are having an Evening with A5, in which the students and families are invited for an evening to share what we are doing in A5.  We are going to play both soccer and European handball, with families and students together.  Student ambassadors will be going over rules of the games.  We will then play each activity.  Our entire group then will go for a pizza celebration and all will answer the questions our A5 students created.  We will also take this time to show off our A5 blog to the families.  The student and family responses will be posted on this blog, for each of the students.  We are really looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say.  Here are the questions the kids came up with.
     Official A5 Evening Questions


What was the best part of your night?


What is your opinion of the A5 program?


Did you find it entertaining?


Do you think that A5 is a beneficial program?  Why?


What expectations did you have of A5, coming into tonight?


How did you feel (from your day) when you entered the A5 program?


If you were in 8th or 7th grade would you do A5? Why?


How did it feel playing competitively against 7th and 8th graders?


If there is anything you would change, what would it be?


What do you think of the A5 Blog?

Do you think that by the end of the day the exercise changed your mood?  How?  Please explain.


Would you ever come back to a night of A5 if we invited you again?


Why do you think people didn’t want middle schoolers to play dodgeball? What is your opinion?


How did you feel emotionally before tonight? How do you feel now?



graham2.png