PS Students and Minnesota Vikings Share a Special Night of Stories and Life Lessons

Earlier this winter in partnership with the Minnesota Vikings, Project Success hosted a special Global Experiences virtual event for 30+ students from our MPS partner high schools. We have been bringing students on global experiences to Washington D.C. for over five years, which always includes an experience at The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and workshops and a tour at Howard University. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we haven’t been able to travel but instead have brought some of this experience directly to students in their homes. As Adrienne Diercks shared in opening the evening on Zoom, “We wish we were in person, but the most important thing is that we are together and we are in community. We’re together sharing time and space and that’s pretty special.” She stressed the need to continue to establish supportive communities for students that can be a resource in these challenging times.

The students were able to hear personal stories and life lessons from former Viking and Supreme Court Justice Alan Page and Dr. Damion Thomas, Sports Curator for NMAAHC. They also took part in a PS facilitated workshop on motivation, leadership and action. Students had a chance to share some of their own stories and ask questions of the guest speakers and several current Vikings players, including Eric Kendricks, C.J. Ham, Anthony Barr, Alexander Mattison, Irv Smith Jr, D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones II. One of the students captured the energy of the evening beautifully in the closing reflection: “Don’t ever think your story is boring. Everyone’s story is inspiring!”

“Don’t ever think your story is boring. Everyone’s story is inspiring!”

Project Success and the Minnesota Vikings have a shared commitment to social justice, community, and providing meaningful opportunities for young people. Vikings Owner/President Mark Wilf joined the call for the surprise announcement of a $100,000 donation from the Vikings Social Justice Committee to Project Success. “Tonight’s really important to myself and our whole organization,” Wilf said. “We’re always advocating for transformational change, and Project Success remains a top priority for our organization.”

The Vikings also awarded twelve students with $1,000 academic scholarships on the call, selected from multiple students who had submitted essays on their future goals.

This has been a difficult two years for students, but they are resilient and it’s important students continue to have opportunities and experiences focused on their futures. This unique event brought our students and us hope, community, and inspiration along with new scholarships that will help fuel bright futures.

As Justice Alan Page reflected with the students, “Success is not a destination; it’s a matter of travel. It is the journey that’s important.”

“Success is not a destination; it’s a matter of travel. It is the journey that’s important.”

To read more about the evening, visit the Vikings.com article posted recently.