Published: May 08, 2008 04:04 pm            

Area students serve as Super Bowl ambassadors

Two Westside students joined 30 others in representing Indiana in its Super Bowl 2012 bid.

Dianna Boyce, a representative for the Indianapolis Bid Committee, said committee officials have been striving for more community involvement in this year’s bid process. For the 2012 bid, she said they decided to hand deliver the bids to all 32 NFL teams on May 9. The ambassadors chosen to represent both the community and the committee are eighth-grade students from throughout Central Indiana.

“We chose the class of 2012 because we are bidding on Super Bowl 2012,” Boyce explained.

She said students were chosen from around the Indianapolis area and as far away as Lafayette, Terre Haute, Muncie, and Shelbyville.

Committee officials provided school districts with a few rules about choosing a student to represent them, but they did stress that those selected would have to be an exemplary representative of both the school and the community.

“We left the decision in the school districts’ hands,” she said.

Among those chosen were Patrick Tiffany of Speedway Junior High School and Darian White of Chapel Hill Seventh and Eighth Grade Center.

John Dizney, principal at Speedway Junior High School, said the staff chose Tiffany as the ambassador because of his academic standing, good character, and involvement in athletics.

“He was an easy choice for us,” he added.

Tom Langdoc, director of schools and community services for the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township, said Darian was chosen because she one of Chapel Hill Seventh and Eighth Grade Center’s student ambassadors and is very active in the school.

Langdoc said White was recognized at the last school board meeting.

“As a school district, we think she will be a good representative,” he added.

Dizney will be chaperoning Tiffany, while Superintendent Terry Thompson will be chaperoning White.

Both students attended an informational session last week to learn what they would be doing and where they would be traveling.

Dizney said they explained that the students would be hand delivering the bids to the franchise owners. Unlike other cities vying for the same opportunity, Dizney said committee officials thought it would look good to show that both the communities of Indiana and its youth are involved in the project.

“We are honored,” Dizney said. “We are excited about the opportunity and to represent not only the city of Indianapolis, but the town of Speedway and the school.”

The pool of representatives were put into a draft, much like the NFL players go through. Once their number was called, they picked a bag that held a jersey for the team they would be visiting.

White chose the Atlanta Falcons, while Tiffany chose the Houston Texans.

Tiffany said he had been to Houston before, but is excited none the less.

“I am honored that I was chosen and I am ready to do whatever I can to get the Super Bowl here,” he said. “I was very excited to go and deliver the bid to Houston.”

Langdoc said White has spoken to school officials about the honor and said she was excited and was looking forward to the opportunity.

If Indianapolis received the bid for Super Bowl 2012, both Disney and Langdoc said the student ambassadors could continue their roles and help out with the Super Bowl.

amanda.roach@flyergroup.com

        

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