(October 31, 2012)... Sixth grade students at Cosgrove Middle School of the Spencerport Central School District attended three separate anti-bullying presentations orchestrated by Rochester Knighthawks players Joel White and Joe Walters on Wednesday, October 31st.

Knighthawks players are going to be making appearances at various schools in the Rochester area throughout the offseason and regular season to discuss the importance of being aware of bullying and putting an end to it. Cosgrove Middle School was the first of many schools the Knighthawks plan on teaming up with in order to get this important message out to kids in the Rochester area.

The presentation focused on the definition of bullying, different types of bullying, and how children can handle bullying.  An important aspect of what Joel White and Joe Walters informed the sixth grade students about is the “We Got Your Back” pledge.

The Rochester-based youth Hurricanes Lacrosse program created the “We Got Your Back Pledge” and the Rochester Knighthawks adopted the pledge in the 2012 season. White and Walters told the children about how each member of the 2012 World Champion Rochester Knighthawks team signed the pledge and about the importance of sticking up for their friends, just like they do for their teammates.

Following the presentation, each student signed two banners in order to show their commitment to the “We Got Your Back” pledge and joining in on the effort to reduce the amount of bullying which occurs in the Rochester community. 

One of these banners will be placed at Cosgrove Middle School and the other will be placed at The Blue Cross Arena during all Rochester Knighthawks home games. This way the children will be able to not only see the poster in school and be reminded of the pledge and their responsibilities, but they will be a part of each home Knighthawks game.

Walters and White answered questions for the sixth grade students and also signed autographs following the presentation. The students were very excited to interact with both players and White and Walters were also thrilled to be able to be a part of taking a stance against bullying and informing the students of how they can too.

Both players will be back at Cosgrove Middle School tomorrow to speak to two more groups of sixth grade students and continue towards their goal of getting kids to recognize and stand-up against bullying.