DePaul University Athletics
Wintrust Field Trip Day a Resounding Success
12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO ââ'¬" Maggie McCann and her seventh-graders from Clinton Elementary School in Rogers Park had an inspiring visit to DePaul while participating in the Wintrust Field Trip Day event last Monday.
McCann and her 90 students were part of an enthusiastic and raucous McGrath-Phillips Arena crowd of 3,000 that screamed their support during the No. 15/14 Blue Demons' 94-62 women's basketball victory over Prairie View A&M.
More than 2,000 school children from Chicago Public Schools and the Catholic school system look forward with a great deal of anticipation to this annual event that seeks to introduce grammar school students to a college campus and the possibility of a college education. DePaul sent out 35 buses to transport the school children to Monday's game.
Wintrust--Chicago's family of true community banks--has partnered with DePaul and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) in the construction of Wintrust Arena, the basketball arena in the South Loop at McCormick Square that will be home to the Blue Demons in the 2017-18 season.
In addition to the arena's naming rights, Wintrust is supporting philanthropic, educational and community initiatives including Wintrust Field Trip Day.
"As a locally-built and locally run company, we're committed to supporting this area," said Wintrust President & CEO Ed Wehmer. "We know that helping to create a strong future for Chicago starts with supporting Chicago's youth, and that's why we're especially proud to sponsor Wintrust Field Trip Day.
"It gives local students a glimpse at their bright futures and helps them imagine themselves at one of the city's best schools. This is just one of the many reasons we're honored to have partnered with DePaul."
Before they helped drive up the decibel level at McGrath-Phillips Arena, McCann and her students participated in a special presentation at the campus Student Center.
DePaul Director of Sports Medicine Sue Walsh spoke to the kids about the focus on health science and nutrition for Division I student-athletes. Ben Gutman of Athletics Academic Advising gave a talk about the emphasis of academics at DePaul while Blue Demon basketball players Eli Cain, Brandon Cyrus and Al Eichelberger spoke about student life and how academics helped lead to a college basketball scholarship.
"Dr. Walsh began the program talking about monitoring your health and the importance of dietary choices which fit right in with our health science curriculum," McCann said. "It was great to hear it from her.
"Ben Gutman stressed how attaining good grades in grade school will help you get into a good high school. Then, he progressed to talk about how your academic choices in high school impact the college-decision process.
"Our kids really got into it with the basketball players and were asking questions about whether they ever considered quitting basketball to devote more time to their studies and how they balanced the demands from basketball with school and their social life. The players told them about learning time management and how they are still working on that to this day."
McCann has been teaching at Clinton for two years after receiving her undergraduate degree in Education from DePaul in 2014. She will earn a master's degree in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Leadership in the spring. Her father is Kevin McCann, an academic advisor at DePaul who has served as the official timer at Blue Demon basketball games for 46 years.
"Field Trip Day is one of the best game environments that we play in all year," said DePaul women's basketball coach Doug Bruno. "DePaul has long been a leader in Chicago for educating teachers who work in the Chicago Public Schools and Catholic school systems. So many of our DePaul students are graduates of the CPS and Catholic school systems.
"DePaul is also a leader in Field Trip Day events and among the first nationally to engage in this initiative. We are one of the only universities in the country that provides free transportation, T-shirts and posters for the school kids and introduce the young children to their first college campus.
"The enthusiasm and excitement the kids bring to McGrath-Phillips Arena is just awesome, and our players really get juiced to play in such a loud and wild environment."
Bruno is appreciative for all the support in filling up the arena.
"I have to thank our athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto for starting this program and community-outreach administrator Dave Corzine for doing all the heavy lifting and legwork for this event," Bruno said.
"It is fun to watch Dave---who used to feed Michael Jordan and direct a play from the high post when he played for the Bulls---outside in the middle of Sheffield Avenue directing traffic as one school bus after another unloads their passengers."
Just as Bruno does his best to help grow the game of women's basketball, he knows that Wintrust's support will help grow this event.
"Wintrust prides itself on being Chicago's bank, and it's great to have Wintrust partner with Chicago teams like the Cubs and DePaul and to see their wonderful support of so many philanthropic and community organizations," Bruno said.
"There can be no greater cause than advocating for the education of our Chicago boys and girls. By sponsoring Field Trip Days, Wintrust is supporting the education of so many school children in both the CPS and Catholic school systems."
Wintrust Field Trip Day left a lasting impression on the school children as they boarded their buses for the return trip.
"Before we came to DePaul, we asked the kids how many had ever been on a college campus before---and only two said they had," Maggie McCann said. "For a lot of them, this experience got them thinking about the importance of a college education.
"What really had an impact on the kids was hearing from other people besides their teacher---especially the basketball players. The student-athletes were the kind of person they look up to as role models, and they could relate to them because they are closer to their age. They loved interacting with them.
"Of course, they had a lot of fun cheering on the Blue Demons to a big win. But this was much more than just coming to a game, and we got so much out of the entire experience."
