CARES Cup
Roxhill Elementary School
2011-12

Seattle Sounders stars Taylor Graham and Servando Carrasco attended grade school this afternoon. They helped Principal Carmela Dellino kick off the 2011-2012 CARES Cup during an assembly there. CARES, (Creating Amazing Relationships Ensures Success), an effort to establish meaningful multi-age relationships among students and staff at Roxhill School.

Teams of students participate. Teams for last year's CARES Cup were modeled on the 2010 World Cup; teams of 8-12 K-5th grade students were formed and led by a staff. Teams were assigned one of the 32 countries participating in the 2010 Men’s World Cup. During the course of the year, teams learned about their country, played some soccer, and began to developed teamwork skills.

This year vehicle for CARES Cup is the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Each team today was assigned one of 40 countries (of the 204 countries total) that are participating in the Games of the XXX Olympiad. Graham and Carrasco drew countries from a glass bowl that matched with teams of teachers and students. The principal was also involved, and she and her group were assigned Belarus, formerly in the Soviet Union. Those teams assigned to the United States and Mexico cheered loudest. it is safe to say that the team that was awarded North Korea did not do somersaults.

"CARES Cup has been something I've helped out with for the last couple of years and I am excited to be a part of the organization as we focus on the 2012 Olympics," Graham, 31, told the West Seattle Herald. "The World Cup has come and gone but we've got the Olympics to look forward to.

"I'm good friends with Carmela, and with her love of Roxhill everyone else kind of falls in love with the school, too," Graham added. "I've had the privilege of coming here several times and that's not going to change very soon."

Graham told the students at the assembly, "The real talent behind the Sounders Organization is Servando. He is from Tijuana, Mexico. He graduated from Cal. Berkeley, the rival to my college, Stanford. So there is a little bit of tension between us," he said, adding with a bit of humor, "We always have to play on the opposite team in practice because we like to kick each other."

Graham said he wanted to reveal a "fun fact" about his teammate to embarrass him.

He told the kids, "In the Women's World Cup, the American player who scored the first goal in the finals was Alex Morgan, and she is Servando's girlfriend. They went to college together."

The kids thought that was a hoot and laughed and giggled.

Dellino told her students just prior to the Sounders players drawing of the countries, "They are going to help us find out which country we are going to represent as we explore around the world and learn all about the various countries that are part of the 2012 Summer Olympics (...) What does it take to be a champion?"

One student yelled out, "Practice." Another said, "Hard work. And two others offered, "Believing in yourself", and "teamwork."

Said Dellino, "Yes. We're going to learn how we have every single one of those qualities in us."

CARES Cup will take place on alternating Thursday afternoons from 2:50 p.m to 3:30 p.m. At the end of the year, we will culminate our efforts in an all-school celebration for students, staff, families and community members to showcase what students have learned and to celebrate the relationships we have formed.