With the coronavirus crisis shutting down schools nationwide, most U.S. children won’t be returning to class this academic year. But to assure students won’t feel forgotten, schools across the country are turning on sports stadium lights to illuminate empty campuses, embracing what has become known as the #BeTheLight movement.
Head football coach Aaron Dunham got “fired up” about the idea, Beesley says, driving to the stadium that night. Later, Beesley tweeted a photo of the lit arena. “The [school closure] hit me hard because our athletes worked so hard,” Monty Leaf, head football coach of Eustace High School, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “We don’t want them to feel as though time was wasted.”
Riess, who played the school song over the stadium loud speakers on Monday night, tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “We’re also asking neighbors to turn on their porch lights each week.”