City of Shenandoah and NCAA Announce the Return of the Stagg Bowl to the City at Lamar Elementary

SHENANDOAH, TX -- The City of Shenandoah and the NCAA are pleased to announce that the NCAA 2019 Division III Football Championship, better known as the Stagg Bowl, will return to the city on Friday, December 20, 2019, at Woodforest Bank Stadium. Plans are underway to try and top last year’s event, between Mount Union and the University of Mary Hardin Baylor.

City and Conroe ISD staff will gather at Lamar Elementary for a press conference prior to a reading pep rally for second and third grade students. This is designed to highlight Conroe ISD’s annual reading initiative, “Read for a Better Life,” in conjunction with
the NCAA® Team Work’s “Readers Become Leaders” program, which encourages children on the importance of reading. In addition to our event at Lamar Elementary, second and third grade students at Houser Elementary will also be participating in this program. Over the course of the semester, students will be required to keep a log of the time and books they’ve read, and the top students will receive prizes, and all participating classrooms will receive new reading libraries for their rooms from the NCAA and Scholastic.

After some brief remarks regarding this year’s Stagg Bowl and the NCAA’s good work through its community outreach programs like “Readers Become Leaders” and partnership with Special Olympics, there will be a reading “pep rally” for the Lamar
Elementary students with cheerleaders and band members from The Woodlands College Park High School. The NCAA and City of Shenandoah will also be working with the Houston/Conroe areas of Special Olympics Texas, and will include a number of Special Olympics Texas athletes in this year’s Stagg Bowl activities. Special Olympics will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, and their theme will be “Inclusion Revolution.”

“Working with local communities and partners on-site at our championships is an important part of our mission at the NCAA.” added J.P. Williams, Assistant Director, Championships and Alliances. “We’re excited to return to Shenandoah, TX for the 2019
NCAA® Stagg Bowl, and are thrilled to be able to partner with the city, Conroe I.S.D., and Special Olympics Texas as part of this year’s Division III football championship experience.”

Who: City of Shenandoah will announce this year’s 2019 Stagg Bowl with representatives from Special Olympics Texas.

What: The announcement will take place before a reading pep rally held at Lamar Elementary for second and third grade students participating in the NCAA Team Works “Readers Become Leaders” reading program. Lamar Elementary, along with Houser Elementary, will have the opportunity to compete by having the highest number of minutes read by
students that are documented on reading logs submitted every few weeks.

This program is a partnership between the 2019 NCAA® Stagg Bowl, the City of Shenandoah, NCAA® Team Works™ and Conroe ISD.

Those students who have read the most will be recognized during the championship game at the Woodforest Bank Stadium.

Where: Lamar Elementary
Principal: Kristen Belcher
1300 Many Pines
The Woodlands, TX 77380
When: Wednesday, September 18, 2019 / 9:30 a.m. Central
Why: Great opportunity to learn more about this year’s upcoming NCAA Division III Football Championship and the good works that the NCAA does through its partnership with it’s “Readers Become Leaders” program and Special Olympics Texas.
Great visuals with local elementary students and local high school students at “pep rally” to kick off reading competition, along with opportunities to speak with representatives from the City of Shenandoah, Conroe ISD and Special Olympics Texas
regarding this year’s Stagg Bowl and how the NCAA is partnering with the City to benefit local partners and organizations.

Should you have any questions, or need any additional information regarding event details or the city’s role as host, please contact John Mayner, Director, Shenandoah Convention & Visitors Bureau, at 832-585-8090, or by email at jmayner@shenandoahtx.us; for questions relating to Special Olympics Texas and its programs, please contact Kaylin
Crumpton, Program Director, at 713-290-0049, or via email at kcrumpton@sotx.org; finally, for questions relating to the NCAA and its community outreach programs, please contact Victor Hill, Associate Director, NCAA Team Works, at 317-614-5606, or
via email at vhill@ncaa.org. For any questions relating to Conroe ISD’s role in this year’s events, please contact Sarah Blakelock, Director of Communications for Conroe ISD by phone 936-709-7707 or email at sblakelock@conroeisd.net.