NJ's Healthy Hat Trick Teaches Healthy Living | FEATURE

Nicolaus Copernicus School in Jersey City had a special buzz in late February as there were some special guests visiting the school. NJ’s Healthy Hat Trick, a school assembly program presented by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, was stopping by with Devils alumnus, special guests, and NJ Devil in tow. Kids filled in and quickly took their seats in the gymnasium, ready to hear from some of their idols. From there the presentation began. Over the next hour, NJ and his guests talked about the importance of living healthy lives through one catchy motto: be educated, be healthy, be active. At this particular assembly, Devils alumnus Colin White and Grant Marshall helped explain what they did to become professional athletes and why it was important for each student in attendance to follow these program principles.

“We were these kids once,” Grant Marshall explained. “Growing up and wanting to play the game of hockey and wanting to understand what’s best for us. Whether it’s what’s best for our bodies, eating habits, working out habits, and just learning. It all ties in together. The Devils are a big part of that growth, whether the ball hockey growth or the on-ice growth. It’s nice giving back and giving our knowledge of what we did growing up as well.”

The program also shows kids about basics of hockey using a Devils branded ball hockey set that was donated to the school as part of the assembly. All in all, the program is an entertaining hour for students and adults alike while helping local kids reach for their potential.

“It was just amazing having the Devils here,” Anthony Blanchard, a teacher at Nicolaus Copernicus School in Jersey City, said following the event. “We’re all Devils fans here and seeing (the kids) getting exposed to hockey and getting the message of being educated and being active is just really an amazing feeling.

“As teachers we can teach them lessons on what it’s like to be an adult and to be prepared,” Blanchard continued. “But actually see adults in action, in their careers, in their chosen professions, is just very important to see the end result of what we’re working towards.”

“It’s critical the children see athletes coming into their building,” Diane C. Pistilli, Principal of the Nicolaus Copernicus School in Jersey City, explained. “They may see them on TV, but when you see them in person it’s a different aura comes around the gym. When (the athletes) believe in eating healthy and exercising, (it’s huge). To be an athlete you must do that, if you want to be a really good student you have to do that.

“I like that (the presentation) brought in teamwork,” Pistilli continued. “We say that a lot here. You’re a team, your homeroom is a team, you have to work together.”

NJ’s Healthy Hat Trick is a unique way for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to continue their community involvement directly aligned with their company’s core values.

“Horizon is so excited to be part of Healthy Hat Trick,” John Fuller, Director of Government Affairs for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, shared.“It’s super important. The main mission of Horizon is to make sure people in New Jersey are healthy. To have healthy adults, we need kids that are bought in on being healthy.”

“It was amazing,” Fuller shared. “Everyone was pumped up. When NJ came out, the place went nuts. Everybody’s figuring out it’s not just gym class where you have to be healthy, it’s waking up on time, going to bed at a good time, eating right, listening to your teachers, taking education seriously, because it all comes together to become a healthy adult in the long run.”

To have the buy-in through this program from the Devils and its partners will make a difference and Pistilli discussed the impact this program will have on her school.

“That’s amazing,” Pistilli described. “You never really see that. You hear about insurance companies but for them to come here today and say they’re going to invest in the Devils, invest in children, that’s a big win. We need to all work together, you can’t do this by yourself.”