CALGARY, ALBERTA – The National Hockey League (NHL), the Calgary Flames and Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine and his Companions in Courage charity today announced plans to donate a new, state-of-the-art “NHL Legacy Classroom” at Alberta Children’s Hospital to commemorate the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™. The classroom is expected to be operational by April 2011.
The “NHL Legacy Classroom” will feature Cisco System’s online conferencing system, WebEx ( http://www.webex.com ), which allows young patients to connect to family, friends, schools and teachers anywhere in the world during a hospital stay. Patients are also able to connect to other “NHL Legacy Classrooms” through WebEx for a collaborative learning experience during school hours and for fun, interactive games and other activities after school hours.
The NHL Heritage Classic and Calgary Flames-themed “NHL Legacy Classroom” at Alberta Children’s Hospital also features a SMART Board and a SMART Table, tools that stimulate collaboration among students and enable students and teachers to connect to other schools or “classrooms” via the room’s video conferencing capabilities. The SMART Board and SMART Table were provided by SMART Technologies.
“The NHL is proud to continue its ongoing philanthropic efforts with a legacy gift supporting the Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™. On behalf of the NHL family we proudly leave this gift for the young patients and their families at Alberta Children’s Hospital,” said Ken Martin, Jr., NHL Vice President of Community Affairs.
“The Heritage Classic is a way for the NHL to celebrate its glorious past. We are so proud to be able to be a part of this legacy gift to the children of Alberta that celebrates its future,” said LaFontaine.
“The Alberta Children’s Hospital is a Southern Alberta jewel providing unparalleled care for all young people in need of its services”, said Flames President & CEO Ken King. “The Calgary Flames organization is proud to partner with the NHL in the creation of this unique legacy.”
“We are incredibly grateful to the NHL, Companions in Courage, the Calgary Flames, Cisco Systems, and SMART Technologies for recognizing how important school is for children in hospital,” says Saifa Koonar, President and CEO, the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. “The NHL Legacy Classroom will help give kids a great new technology-rich space in which they can keep up their education – focusing on their abilities, instead of their disabilities – and have fun while they’re learning.”
The Legacy Rooms were originally founded by the Companions in Courage Foundation and LaFontaine. The Foundation has now opened 11 Lion’s Den rooms throughout North America, including two with the NHL in Montreal and Boston. The NHL unveiled the first fully functional “NHL Legacy Classroom” at North Carolina Children’s Hospital to commemorate the 2011 NHL All-Star Weekend in January. Plans for an “NHL Legacy Classroom” in Pittsburgh were unveiled during the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic to commemorate the outdoor game.
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