Philadelphia Flyers: Fan wins huge donation, visits from Gritty and JVR

Jennifer Armstrong, a Philadelphia Flyers fan and teacher, was one of the NHL/NHLPA Future Goals Most Valuable Teachers of the Year finalists.

The NHL, NHLPA, and EVERFI launched the Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher program back in January. It was designed to celebrate teachers across North America. Voting took place at the beginning of May and while Jennifer Armstrong didn’t come away as the winner, she did win a huge donation for her classroom. A virtual event held with students of her class and even features Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk.

Armstrong is a seventh and eighth-grade teacher at Owen J. Roberts Middle School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. She was awarded a $10,000 donation for new classroom tech devices. According to Armstrong, she uses a few of the Everfi programs in her classrooms.

Her goal is to expose as many of her students to the Hockey Scholar Math and Science programs. She feels they serve as enrichment and additional practice to what the students are already learning. You can find out more information here about Armstrong and how she became a teacher.

Armstrong was actually named the Most Valuable Teacher of February. An in-person event took place back in March as the Flyers and Gritty surprised Armstrong and her students. She was even given a personalized jersey. The students, along with Armstrong, were able to spend time and take pictures with Gritty.

While that event was two months ago, Armstrong recently got the chance to join a video call with JVR. He was joined by Flyers in-arena host Andrea Helfrich. Some of her students were a part of the call as well. That is where Armstrong found out about the donation.

Two other teachers had the chance to take part in the virtual event as well. A finalist from Pittsburgh, Megan Campedel, received a virtual visit from Bryan Rust. Joan Kilban, who came away as Teacher of the Year, was able to receive a visit from Charlie Coyle.

The Future Goals-Hockey Scholar program includes various different activities to help engage students. Some of the activities include exploring the engineering behind hockey equipment and calculating the surface area and volume of the ice. Students who have taken part in this program have seen their STEM skills increase by 82 percent.

The NHL, NHLPA have provided free online access to anyone who wants to learn more information.