Jessica’s thank you note surprise
Jessica is a 16-yr-old student from Detroit who in Oct 2017 sent a wonderful,
handwritten note to NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, thanking him for a talk he
gave at the Detroit Science Center 3 years prior, and telling him how much of
a positive impact it has had on her life and her goals. The note meant a lot to
Chris, as you can see from his instagram post.
Spread Positivity then organized a surprise trip for her and her mother to go
to Houston to tour NASA with Chris. Her parents, principal and teacher
(whose class we interrupted), and NASA were all in on it. (Here is a video of
the actual surprise.)
Source: ClickOnDetroit.com
From school, we went to the airport via a quick stop at the Henry Ford
Museum (Jessica’s mom, Kim, treated), flew them to Houston, and put them
up in a hotel near NASA that night.
The next morning, we picked them up and went to NASA, where Jessica and Kim met Chris, and spent the next several hours with him
getting a personal, insider’s VIP tour of NASA. They also had a few hours at the Space Center Houston museum next door, before we
had a car take them to the airport for their flight home.
They loved it, and words can’t describe how incredibly happy and grateful they were.
Source: ClickOnDetroit.com
NBA star’s surprise visit from childhood coach.
Spread Positivity brought Brazilian NBA star Nene Hilario’s childhood
basketball coach, Nivaldo Meneghelli, from Brazil to Houston as a complete
surprise to Nene. Coach Meneghelli had a dream to see his star student,
Nene, play in an NBA game, but it had never been possible. Spread Positivity
realized Coach’s dream, and brought him to Houston to see Nene play in the
Rockets/Jazz Round 2 playoff game in April 2018.
Globo article (in Portuguese):
https://sportv.globo.com/site/nba/noticia/com-ajuda-de-astronauta-primeiro-
tecnico-de-nene-faz-surpresa-ao-pupilo-nos-eua.ghtml
Background:
- On a speaking tour in Brazil with NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy, organized by Spread Positivity, we happened to be in Sao Carlos,
SP, the town where Nene grew up and learned to play basketball. - We made a surprise visit to the small basketball camp where Nene practiced as a kid,
Escola Basquete Meneghelli. - We met his coach, Meneghelli, and Chris spoke to the ~40 kids practicing there. The kids were awe-struck and so excited
that an American astronaut came to see them, even without anyone asking him to. - Meneghelli (www.facebook.com/BasqueteMeneghelli), a very hard-working teacher, has coached over 8,000 kids. He is
incredibly proud of Nene, and how Nene’s dedication and discipline have paid off. - Talking with Meneghelli, we learned he had a dream of watching Nene play in an NBA game, but had never been able to do it.
So, we decided to do the following: - Spread Positivity would realize Meneghelli’s dream by bringing him to Houston to watch Nene play
in a Rocket’s playoff game against the Utah Jazz. - We would make it a surprise to Nene (but not to Meneghelli, of course).
- In the process, we would create a positive story to share with the world.
Astronaut Jose Hernandez visit to immigrant kids
In May 2018, Spread Positivity brought former astronaut Jose Hernandez to
the Joseph A. Browne Middle School in Chelsea, MA, to speak with immigrant
students. Jose is the son of migrant farm workers from Mexico, grew up
working harvests across California, and eventually went on to become
an astronaut.
The Browne School student body is predominantly immigrant kids. Given
increased anxiety and fear of deportation in that community, we did a “You
Are Welcome Here” visit to the school the previous May, 2017.
A group of us, led by Lola (canine founder of Spread Positivity), visited the
school simply to show the newly-arrived kids that they are indeed welcome in
the US and in our community. We also showed some “Encouragement Videos”
from a few people who could not attend in person.
Far and away the most impactful aspect of that event was Jose’s video,
since his incredible story as a child of immigrant, migrant-farm-worker parents,
is quite inspiring.
So, in May 2018, we brought Jose to the school to share his inspiring message with the students in person. Jose’s in-person visit in May 2018: https://www.facebook.com/events/618379298518612/
Photos:https://www.facebook.com/pg/spreadpositivity.org/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2039862409601415
Videos: https://www.facebook.com/events/618379298518612/?active_tab=discussion
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