Celtics celebrate students' commitment to education

BOSTON — Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk, Celtics Legend Leon Powe, Celtics mascot “Lucky” the Leprechaun and the Boston Celtics Dance Team joined over 1,000 students from more than 40 schools in the Boston and Lawrence Public School Districts today for the second annual End of Year Carnival.

The Boston Celtics hosted the culminating event for two of their flagship outreach programs, Stay in School and Step Your Game Up. The carnival-themed event celebrated select students who had either maintained perfect attendance throughout the entire school year, improved their grades substantially or won the annual Celtics writing or art contests.

“This is definitely an exciting event, not just because of the carnival and all of the festivities it entails, but also because it’s a celebration of the hard work these students have put in throughout the course of the school year,” said Olynyk. “It shows that hard work and dedication pay off, and will hopefully inspire them to continue to work hard at their academic endeavors.”

Students had the opportunity to choose from up to 35 different activities around the field house, highlighted by a centralized area holding a basketball skills challenge. Lucky and the Dunk Team then treated the audience to a high-flying dunk show, before Mayor Martin J. Walsh addressed the students as one of several key note speakers.

Cox Media Group