"Don't talk about it, be about it."
"Put your money where your mouth is."
We hear those phrases all the time, but Author Cathy Parker acted on them. Parker motivated a high school team and an entire community to come together to do something really incredible.
Last week, her book called 'Northern Lights' was released and tells the inspirational true story of how football helped to build bridges between cultures and transform communities.
The movement started in 2006 after Cathy Parker, a Bartram Trail High School wife and football mom, saw an ESPN feature on a struggling team in Alaska. She felt a calling to help the boys in the struggling community who were playing on a gravel field in the frozen tundra.
With the help of the school system, churches, civic clubs, Bartram Head Football Coach Darrell Sutherland and many others, more than half a million dollars was raised in six months to build an artificial-turf stadium for the boys of Barrow.
The football program in Barrow, Alaska has had a significant impact on the graduation rates for the Barrow high school students. Since the program was added, the State of Alaska reports the graduation rate went from 46.8 percent in the 2005-2006 school year to 83.6 percent in the 2008-2009 school year, one year after the new field was delivered.
More information about “Northern Lights” can be found at northernlightsbook.com.