Harlem Wizards Wow Crowd While Helping Valpo Schools Foundation

Harlem Wizards Wow Crowd While Helping Valpo Schools Foundation

The gymnasium at Valparaiso High School was filled with families ready to have some fun Friday night, and they were not disappointed! The Harlem Wizards have been entertaining crowds for more than fifty years, traveling all across the country. Several members, including “Swoop” Simpson, are former Globetrotters.

“Our main objective here tonight is to help bring in as much money as possible for your community,” said “Swoop”. Last season, they raised over $2 million dollars playing in over 400 communities. They bring an action packed and humorous basketball show, involving children and parents alike. There was a DJ/MC getting the crowd fired up with music, and before the game even began, there were “Little Wizards” warming up on the court with the team. Anyone wearing a Wizards jersey was able to join in.

At half time, the team brought audience members on the floor for a contest, and at the end of the game, invited the entire crowd onto the court to have a dance party. When all was said and done, the team stayed graciously until everyone that wanted an autograph or photo was able to get them.

Besides fun, the main goal was to raise money for the Valparaiso Schools Foundation.

“The Valpo School Foundation takes care of scholarships for seniors when they graduate, last year we gave out a little over thirty thousand,” Mark Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, explained. “We also provide grants for the teachers and the students in the classroom, last year we gave out pretty close to fifteen to twenty thousand.”

They also were able to take every eighth grader in the Valpo schools on a half day field trip to Ivy Tech, to see what a program nearby could offer. A month later, they were able to take that same group of five hundred students to Notre Dame to see what a four-year college is like as well.

Click here for more pictures of the fun!!

Mark also said, “One thing we’ve added, we are now going to give letters, a varsity team letter, to every student at VHS, that maintains a 3.5 grade point average, two semesters in a row. They’ll earn a letter jacket, just like the athletes.”

This wonderful fundraising event was possible, in part, because of many sponsors, including Cavanaugh & Nondorf Orthodontics.

"Cavanaugh & Nondorf Orthodontics is very proud to support the Valparaiso Schools Foundation by sponsoring the Harlem Wizards vs Valpo All Stars game again this year. It is such a great family event each year and we really enjoying seeing all the kids, teachers, administrators and parents get together for a fun, interactive evening to raise money for the Valparaiso Community Schools," explained Robert Cavanaugh. "Dr. Nondorf and I have both benefited from being students in the Valparaiso Community Schools and we are happy to support the young people of Valparaiso by improving their educational opportunities through the Valparaiso Schools Foundation."