Arizona Bowl taps Tucson school for launch of ‘Adopt a School’ program

The locale was the cafeteria at Alice Vail Middle School in midtown Tucson. The occasion was the official announcement that Alice Vail would be the first school to participate in the Arizona Bowl’s new “Adopt a School” program.

The eighth-graders who packed the cafeteria for the first of three assemblies Monday afternoon roared and squealed upon learning that they could earn tickets to the game, among other perks. They took it up another notch when Arizona Bowl volunteers started tossing T-shirts into the throng. Finally, led by Arizona Bowl executive director Kym Adair, they broke into a chant — “Snoop! … Dogg!” — while making a video for the iconic rapper and bowl-game supporter.

“Oh my gosh, middle-school kids. You can't buy that type of energy. I love it,” Adair said. “I loved how excited they were. ... This is what we want. We want them to feel excited about what we're doing and feel a part of this community and what this community is doing.”

The community-oriented Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop launched the Adopt a School program this week. The bowl game has donated more than $5 million to Tucson-area charities over the past 10-plus years and has awarded more than $120,000 in grants to teachers. This academic year marks the first time the Arizona Bowl has partnered with a specific school.

Arizona Bowl CEO Dell Arvayo explained to the students what that entails.

“I don't know you. I've never met any of you. But I trust you,” Arvayo said. “I trust that if we give you an opportunity, if we give you a chance, you guys will come through. That's what your teachers say. That's what your school leadership says.

“Let me tell you what I'm talking about. We want you guys to do the best possible. So this fall, over the course of these next months, we're going to look at your academics, your attendance, your behavior. And if you keep them in line and grow them and improve them, then we all ... are going to celebrate.

“If you do well ... you will earn tickets to the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl. In addition, during our bowl week, the whole week of the bowl game, we have things like a youth football clinic you can attend, a cheer clinic you can attend, gaming contests you can attend. We have a Dave & Buster's Day. We have a lot of different activities. We have STEM labs at our stadium.

“As long as you guys improve your academics, attendance (and) behavior, you guys are eligible to do these things.”

Alice Vail got the nod as the first adoptee for a variety of reasons, including its location and familiarity to the Arizona Bowl staff. For example, one of the interns who tossed T-shirts, Mario Rogers, attended Alice Vail.

“It's a pillar in this community,” Adair said. “We wanted to pick a school that we could try this out with, one that we trusted.”

Alice Vail principal Joshua Peebles said he and his colleagues were “really excited” when they learned their school would be the first to participate in the program. There was no formal application process.

“I think part of it is the fact that we're so extremely diverse. We have so many different programs on our campus,” Peebles said. “I like to say anybody that walks through our gates, we're going to find something for you that you enjoy to do and you're going to work hard for.

“Our enrollment continues to go up. And we're central. All of those pieces together, we were the choice, and we were ecstatic about it.”

Peebles and Adair said the Arizona Bowl’s affiliation with Alice Vail would continue throughout the school year. The game is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 2.

“We're going to be doing special things for the teachers here at the school,” Adair said. “We're going to be doing special things for the kids during the year beyond the bowl, into next semester. We're going to bring surprises, food, parties, fun activations for these kids, so that they get a feel for what we do all year long.”

Still MWC vs. MAC

Adair confirmed that the Arizona Bowl again will pit schools from the Mountain West and Mid-American conferences. All bowl affiliations rolled over after the College Football Playoff decided to stick with its current format.

“Everybody did a bridge year except for the new Pac-12, which had to figure some things out,” Adair said.

“Status quo for this year, except that we're hoping and expecting some really fun things at the game. Change it up a little bit as far as the atmosphere and just bring in new, fun activations. We always like to make it a party.

“We like it to be fun for people, whether they are football fans or not. It's just an experience.

“We have some special surprises with Snoop, too. He's really excited.”