Red Wings, Darren Helm kick off team’s 2016-17 school assembly tour with stop in Birmingham

By @MichaelCaples –

With the help of Darren Helm, the Detroit Red Wings kicked off their seventh season of the Red Wings School Assembly Program by stopping at Holy Name School in Birmingham today.

Helm and members of the Red Wings School Assembly Team talked to the student body about the importance of education, eating healthy and working towards your goals while also exposing them to the sport through floor hockey games and a question-and-answer session with No. 43.

The school assembly program – sponsored by the Detroit Red Wings Foundation, Michigan Education Savings Program and the Kroger Company of Michigan – brings with it complete sets of floor hockey gear that are donated to each school that receives a visit.

The Red Wings Assembly Team has now visited a total of 622 schools in its seven years of operation; more than 304,000 students have received a visit from the Hockeytown crew and more than 1,200 sets of floor hockey gear have been donated.

Every student who attends a Red Wings School Assembly Program event receives an educational Red Wings folder, an informational brochure on college savings strategies and a healthy eating cookbook. Meanwhile, each teacher receives a RISE Teacher Kit to help the students explore cultural aspects of the various countries Red Wings players call home.

For more info on the assembly program, click here.