Raking in Grants, Rogers Middle Honored by NFL

For Rogers Middle School nurse , the past month has brought in more than $15,000 in grant money to support her .

After putting on a spectacular , Rogers was chosen to be the St. Louis Rams' "Play 60 super school." The recognition comes with a $10,000 grant, which will be used to create a walking path with workout stations around the middle school's front campus.

Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis visited Rogers Tuesday morning to present the school with the grant check and host what Beezley called the "ultimate P.E. class." Fifty students, who had won the final prize at the Sept. 9 Football Friday competition, participated in what Beezley said was a fun and enthusiastic workout.

Check out the pictures of Laurinatis's visit to Rogers Middle School on the school's Facebook page.

"The kids were so energized. It was incredible," Affton School Board member Susan Casaleggi said at Tuesday night's board meeting.

"It was simply awesome," Rogers Middle School Principal Jeff Remelius agreed.

Rams cheerleaders and mascot Rampage also attended the ceremony, along with several members of the Affton School Board and Superintedent Steve Brotherton.

"One woman from the NFL said 'I’ve been to many of these, and this is the best one we’ve been to.' And I was just so proud," Beezley said, crediting the students enthusiasm.

With him Laurinatis brought 30 sets of 3-pound weights, 15 footballs, hula hoops, jump roaps, running cones, 100 T-shirts and St. Louis Rams cups, all of which the school got to keep. The school also received a $500 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy more equipment.

On top of that, Laurinatis's father Joe Laurinatis also attended to give the school a further $1,000 grant from Proctor & Gamble as a special award for Rogers "super parent" Bill Shaw. This money will also be used for the walking path, which will be open to nearby residents.

And if that weren't enough, Beezley's efforts have also been awarded with a second Fuel Up to Play 60 grant from the St. Louis Dairy Council. This $4,000 grant will go toward setting up a yoga class to help students stay fit. The after-school Wii Fit sessions Beezley organized with her first dairy grant last spring are still continuing.

Meanwhile, another Rogers teacher has been making moves in the grant funding world. Math teacher Allison Nixon applied for and won a $15,000 grant to buy a classroom set of Apple iPads. Rogers will soon be running a pilot class in which all the students have iPads.