Members of the Dallas Cowboys organization helped a local high school unveil its new football field during a dedication ceremony on Tuesday.
The Dallas Independent School District’s Thomas Jefferson High School revealed its new playing surface, four years after an F3 tornado tore apart its campus and facilities and forced students to attend other schools in the area. The team, behind the efforts of owner Jerry Jones and the NFL, donated $1 million to help the school with repairs.
“Now we’ve got a wonderful field for all the kids to enjoy, from football to soccer to the cheerleaders to the band,” Cowboys Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer Charlotte Jones Anderson told CBS 11 DFW. “It’s just an incredible community effort, and we’re just glad to be a part of it.”
The event also included a ceremonial ribbon cutting, a flag football game involving Thomas Jefferson and Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy students and some of the Cowboys’ rookies, music from the Thomas Jefferson band, and small gifts for the students. The school also unveiled a bench engraved with a thank you to the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Foundation.
“Athletic facilities and athletics in general are really a big part of the lifeblood of any high school, especially a school like ours that was damaged in the tornado,” Thomas Jefferson principal Benjamin Jones told Fox 4 KDFW.
“It means a lot to have a great facility that the athletes can come back and practice on. It really draws students back and says not only did we rebuild, we rebuilt better. And we have the facilities to support the growth in our athletic programs.”
The Cowboys are also beginning a partnership with Dallas ISD that will help support a flag football program, donating equipment to each of the district’s elementary schools.
Former Cowboys defensive lineman Charles Haley, who lives near the school, also attended the ceremony.
“The old is gone, and the new is here,” Haley told CBS 11. “I thank God for the Joneses stepping up their game to really help the kids…I live right around the corner. My house didn’t get affected by the tornado, but this school and the community got devastated. I just wanted to be part of the new.”
