A GRAN Foundation gets it. Do you? Catching on with the exercise craze of today’s health clubs, we danced our Saturday away doing ZUMBA with our students. It was such an enjoyable day. About 40 kids participated with the teachers. They made a healthy snack after to round out a productive and fun Saturday.

WOW the kids were at work even though the boys were like “Hey, I don’t dance that well”. I think we can assume that all the kids loved it.

Along with physical activity A GRAN Foundation encourages our students to eat healthy foods. We all enjoyed making a healthy snack to finish the day. Exposure and knowledge is what kids need regarding food choices.  There are many inexpensive choices in your grocery store that can make great options for snack choices.

One of my favorites from the day. Wish I still had hair!!!

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Year number two of Rocky’s Road is off to a great start! After an awesome first year with the program we are extremely grateful and blessed to continue supporting the community and Yorkshire Elementary. The summer was very busy for the McIntosh family as we worked hard to improve the program’s efficiency with feedback from parents and support staff. Rocky changed teams to the St. Louis Rams after a great six year run with the Washington Redskins. Most importantly we continued to spread the word about Rocky’s Road, and the impact we’ve created while also gaining valuable support from area community leaders and businesses.

Congratulations to our 1st graders who moved up for the second year and a big welcome to our new crop of kindergarten students!! We look forward to another exciting, fun, and blessed year as we work together to make a change in our community. We want to say a very special thanks to the teachers and staff of Yorkshire Elementary who continue to volunteer their precious time to work with the students of Rocky’s Road.

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We had such a blast ending our 1st year of Rocky’s Road with a field day themed the “Yorkshire 2012 Olympics”.  We set up different stations with various activities included in them.   The students were able to play cricket, soccer, and even had their turn through an obstacle course.  They had a fantastic time and burned tons of calories in the process.  Rocky even raced the kids through the hurdles and had his chance at the frisbee toss.  AGF considers this the best event of the year because the parents of our youth were able to join us and see what we have been doing with the students.  One of the reasons we believe this program will be successful is because we have a great deal of parent-child support and interaction.  Just think about when you were a kid and your parents would tell you “great job!” or after a loss  ”Nice try. You will get it next time.”  We truly feel it is moments such as these that are priceless and help shape our youth.

Rocky's Road

After the exercise potion, we moved inside and had an awards ceremony.  All of the students in the program received awesome medals of certificates for their participation.  You should have seen the huge smiles on their faces.  WOW!  The founders of AGF, Rocky & Alessia were surprised at the very end when the students presented them with a collage that included photos taken throughout the year.  We ended the night by enjoying food, slideshow photos of the field trips for the parents to see, and continuing to talk with Rocky’s Road families throughout the evening.  There were many, many thank yous, and a chorus of “I can’t wait for next year!”   AGF truly appreciated all of the kind words and it just served to further motivate the organization to achieve great things with these students.  Founder Rocky McIntosh feels that working with these children speaks to the core of his family’s value system, and is an extension of the platform that the Almighty God has given him to affect change in the next generation.  In closing, Rocky said that the picture the students gave him literally spoke not a 1,000 words but just 5.  ”This is only the beginning.”

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Rocky spent most of his time running from station to station cheering, taking pictures/video, and doing a little eating on the side.  The students were involved in every aspect of preparing the pizza.  They saw how dough was made and rolled it out themselves. Next the cut was made for the crust and then it was time for the  toppings.  They threw on some veggies such as mushrooms and other toppings like olives and pineapple.  Finally 3-4 minutes after they popped it into the oven Presto! The pizza was made.  It was a great day all around for everyone that participated.  The students learned about to make better food choices and had a fantastic time as well.  So how good was the pizza?  Don’t take our word for it!  Check out the pictures to see what everyone thought!!!

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Now that the weather is starting to change outside, we can be out of doors with the students for their physical activity time.  One of our first games was kickball and the  students absolutely loved playing!  We are getting them ready for our end of the year Olympics day which will be held in June.  See the picture below for a glimpse at Rocky’s Road fieldtrip to see the Globetrotters at the Verizon Center. It was such a fun time and most importantly the kids were able to get excited about sports and being active!

The show had everybody laughing, and we were able to see Rocky dancing and missing layups as well.  It is a privilege to watch the youth of Rocky’s Road be so excited about the program and everything that they are learning.  Looking forward to what’s to come!

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Rocky and Alessia McIntosh, who created the A GRAN Foundation to help Washington-area school children in need. Photograph by Kevin Allen.

The executive MBA program created by GW is called STAR, because it’s aimed at individuals with “special talent, access, and responsibilities.” In addition to professional athletes, it targets people in the entertainment industry. The slogan is: “Learn how to turn your celebrity into a powerful brand.”

Derrick Dockery, a former Redskin who currently plays for the Dallas Cowboys, is in the program with his wife, Emma. “The lockout was a wakeup call,” said Emma of their decision to join STAR. The pair met as undergrads at the University of Texas, where Dockery was a Longhorns star, and now live with their young children in Lansdowne, Virginia. “We need to be prepared for life after football,” she said. “That’s how our friends who are also in the program feel, too.”

Imagine in one classroom, in addition to McIntosh and Dockery, current Redskins Josh Wilson and Darrel Young; free agent Antwaan Randle El, who played last season for the Pittsburgh Steelers; Lance Johnstone, formerly of the Oakland Raiders; and Ukee Dozier, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, to name only a few. This is the first year of the two-year program, which involves plenty of out-of-class work but just six weeks in the classroom: two at GW, two at Columbia University in New York, and two at a California institution still to be designated. Upon completion, the participants will be awarded an MBA.

At the Palm Sunday night, several of the players, plus John Auville, Eric Bickel, Jason Bishop, and J.P. Flaim of the radio show The Sports Junkies, served as celebrity waiters for a $200-a-plate fundraiser for the A GRAN Foundation, set up by McIntosh and his wife, Alessia, to fund and actively support young children in need from kindergarten on. More than 87 fans and friends attended, and enjoyed a wine bar and appetizers of crabcakes, spring rolls, and smoked salmon, before sitting down to a three-course surf and turf dinner. As deft in a crowded dining room as on the field, former Skins runningback Clinton Portis and wide receiver Randle El guided platters of food through the tight crowd. Not one platter was fumbled.

Read More at http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/22933.html

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After spending time with my family over the holidays it was great to get back to working with the students in Rocky’s Road.  We hustled to get all of the food and supplies over to the school in time for the launch.  The workbooks were passed out to the students and they were ready to start learning all about healthy foods.  They were excited and anxious (and probably a little hungry too!) so the healthy snack of apples, granola bars, and juice was passed out to all (not the sugary type of juice either).

Megan and Mallori, our awesome kindergarten teachers were there and ready to roll out the curriculum.  Our wonderful high school students and 5th grade mentors were on deck to make sure everyone made it to the multipurpose room and participated in the parachute exercise activity.  The kids had a great time with that part of the day.  We really wanted to construct a theme of kids helping kids and that aspect of the program has already turned out so well!

We ended the evening with a little surprise for the kids and will have pictures of that to follow soon. Great start for the Rocky’s Road team!  Thanks to everyone who has helped make this possible!

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