Vikings' Adam Thielen Helps Mentor Students Through Nonprofit ACES
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Vikings report to training camp Saturday in Mankato.
They open up the season on the road against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. That's also where Super Bowl 50 will be played, which you can watch on CBS this year.
But before camps starts, former Minnesota State University Mankato standout and Vikings' receiver Adam Thielen is spending his summer mornings working out in Woodbury.
WCCO's Ali Lucia caught up with him at the Eastside Boys and Girls Club where kids weren't get just getting a lesson in football, but in math as well.
As the summer tugs along each new week brings a new challenge for ACES students in St. Paul. On this morning, the playbook calls for not just long throws, but long division.
"Every day we have a sports-math activity, this week we're doing football. So today the kids are throwing the football five times, then they are dividing," ACES Team Leader Claire Williams said.
Athletes like Thielen have helped ACES, or Athletes Committed to Educating Students, mentor more than 5,000 students across the metro over the last 20 years.
This summer the nonprofit isn't just committed to keeping kids fit, but making sure their classroom skills don't get too rusty.
The ACES lesson when our WCCO camera stopped by required teamwork
Diana Ortiz's statistician and friend Alyssa Ramos charted her yardage, while Diana was throwing the football around.
"We were throwing to learn how to divide by yards," Diana said. "We were supposed to add them up and divide by three."
"He showed me how to throw a football," Ian Meza, whose a big Vikings fan, said.
Thielen, who wears #19 in purple, took on the role of "teacher" all morning.
"It's a little different, I haven't done it in a while, but we figured it out with some assistance," Thielen joked about his math skills.
This week's math activity at ACES involves hula-hoops. ACES will celebrate 20 years in just a couple of weeks at TCF Bank Stadium. At the event, you can mingle with the 4th through 8th graders who participate in ACES as well as local athletes.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, click here.
