Michael Boxall Visits Jerry Gamble Boys & Girls Club

Michael Boxall Visits Jerry Gamble Boys & Girls Club

by Jenn Schultz

Minnesota United defender Michael Boxall might be best known for his skills on the soccer field, but he has some pretty great classroom skills, too! In mid-October, Boxall surprised the 5th grade ACES class at Jerry Gamble Boys & Girls Club by joining them for the day! The class was participating in the Marshmallow Challenge when Boxall arrived, and he wasted no time partnering up with Marshall and joining in the challenge.

During the Marshmallow Challenge, pairs receive 6 marshmallows and 6 toothpicks each. One partner is the messenger and the other is the receiver. The messenger builds a sculpture with their marshmallows and toothpicks, keeping it hidden from the receiver. Once it’s built, the messenger describes their sculpture to the receiver, who then tries to build an exact copy of the messenger’s sculpture. The messenger can’t see the receiver’s sculpture, so they’re unable to make any corrections to the receiver’s version. When the receiver thinks they have finished their sculpture to the messenger’s direction, both parties review their sculptures. It’s clear that communication is an important skill in the game of soccer, too, as Marshall was able to copy Boxall’s sculpture almost exactly as he described it!

After the Marshmallow Challenge, Boxall stuck around to answer questions from the students and play a few rounds of Multiplication Squares, one of the kids’ favorite Math games. The class was excited to learn that Boxall’s favorite football team is the Vikings and couldn’t believe he is over 6 feet tall. They were also surprised to learn that he is the same age (31) as some of their parents!

ACES is fortunate to have Boxall as an athlete ambassador to our organization. Not only does he actively seek out personal time to visit our classes, he also serves as an e-mentor to one of our students.