{"id":814784,"date":"2026-08-18T10:18:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/814784\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T10:18:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:18:42","slug":"washington-wizards-help-tip-off-upcoming-school-year-at-aps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/814784\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Wizards help \u2018tip off\u2019 upcoming school year at APS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local students got in the back-to-school<\/a> spirit last week with some help from the Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n

Featuring appearances by Wizards mascot G-Wiz, the Wizards Dancers and DJ Chalant, the \u201cBack-to-School Tip-Off\u201d celebration provided students with backpacks filled with school supplies and free haircuts on Friday at Claremont Immersion Elementary School.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen some of my friends I haven\u2019t seen in a long time,\u201d said Cobul, a rising second grader who attended the indoor-outdoor festival in advance of the first day of class on Aug. 31.<\/p>\n

With activities including face painting and three-point basketball shooting, the event\u00a0was a joint initiative by the school division, the Washington Wizards<\/a> and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ChildrenThree-point shooting was a highlight of the Back-to-School Tip-Off (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)<\/p>\n

Organizations including the Girl Scouts and the county library system also were on hand during the three-hour event.<\/p>\n

Though open to all local students, the event drew much of its crowd from the neighborhoods surrounding Claremont Immersion School.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a celebration of our community,\u201d said the school\u2019s principal, Liza Aldana-Broughman.<\/p>\n

The school draws from across the county, with students learning part of the day in English and the other half in Spanish.<\/p>\n

Aldana-Broughman told ARLnow the school was celebrating recent successes<\/a> in the Virginia Department of Education\u2019s school-quality profiles<\/a>. The principal said the recent improvement was due to \u201ca lot of hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur teachers are amazing,\u201d Aldana-Broughman said.<\/p>\n

\"TattooedFace-painting was a featured attraction at the Back-to-School Tip-Off (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)<\/p>\n

As part of the event, every Claremont student who attended was eligible to receive a backpack. Those in kindergarten through fourth grade received Wizards-branded backpacks filled with school supplies, while fifth-grade students received Jordan Brand backpacks donated by Wizards forward Cam Whitmore<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Students also selected free books.<\/p>\n

Laurie, a rising fourth-grader who attended the event, told ARLnow she was excited to get a backpack so she\u2019ll be ready for school.<\/p>\n

Her favorite subject? \u201cArt,\u201d Laurie said with confidence.<\/p>\n

Chris Adams, director of fan development for the Washington Wizards, said the team and its parent organization worked to \u201cspread the love across the DMV\u201d by fostering community and relationships.<\/p>\n

Organizing and participating in community events provides an opportunity to \u201cmeet them where they are,\u201d he said of the public.<\/p>\n

\"TwoLocal youth show off their painted faces at the Back-to-School Tip-Off celebration (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)<\/p>\n

A number of School Board members were in attendance during the afternoon event. Among them was Monique \u201cMoe\u201d Bryant.<\/p>\n

Getting a buzz going about the start of school will pay dividends when students return to classrooms, she told ARLnow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always going to be about welcoming our families back, letting them know they are seen and we care,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cIt\u2019s a joy to see the joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant competed in a free-throw contest against County Board member Julius \u201cJ.D.\u201d Spain, Sr. She credited her victory to her left-handedness.<\/p>\n

Though it was warm and humid outside, the rain was limited to a few drops midway through the event.<\/p>\n

Aldana-Broughman said she hoped the school system\u2019s relationship with the Wizards \u201cmay be the beginning of an annual partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local students got in the back-to-school spirit last week with some help from the Washington Wizards. Featuring appearances…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3780],"tags":[97591,36438,7,97592,6,23980,682,468,3892,683],"class_list":["post-814784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-washington-wizards","tag-arlington-public-schools","tag-back-to-school","tag-basketball","tag-claremont-elementary","tag-nba","tag-schools","tag-washington","tag-washington-wizards","tag-washingtonwizards","tag-wizards"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117116004550972274","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}