3rd Annual Austin's Heroes vs. Dobie's Heroes soccer match
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The reward for a year of hard work for some Dobie Middle School students came down to a big soccer match against staff from the Austin Police Department.
The kids are part of an after-school program called LaunchPad. It works with at-risk youth, teaching them core values, the importance of healthy relationships and education. The support specialists and students meet every Tuesday and Thursday.
"What's amazing to me is that when you give kids a set of boundaries and guidelines and really help to reinforce that, the difference is that they are able to step up to that. They just need that initial extra push. They do fall down ... not if, when, we're there to pick them up and get them back on track," David Contreras, LaunchPad Director and Founder, said.
This is the third year the kids have played APD.
"That's just kind of a hook to make sure we help then stay on track throughout the year. And it's a big thing for them to able to play soccer and engage with the police department in a whole different way."
The match is called “Austin's Heroes vs. Dobie's Heroes.” The soccer game is on Friday, May 7, 2010, at Dobie Middle School. Eighty five students from Dobie Middle School, 40 from the LaunchPad program and 15 from each grade level that have the best attendance and good behavior will participate in the game.