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By Max Jaeger
Brooklyn Daily
They all medaled in spirit.
Area students showed that national pride and competitive spirit are alive and well in Southern Brooklyn during a celebration of the 2014 Sochi Games held at Kings Plaza Shopping Center on Feb. 20.
Around 400 kids from neighborhood schools sang the national anthem, gave dance performances, read poetry, and cheered on U.S. Olympians at the pep rally and parade.
Millennium Development, an organization that programs after-school sports for area kids, partnered with the mall to put on the event.
“We don’t know if they heard us in Sochi, but as loud as the kids were, they might have,” said Paul Curiale, Millennium Development’s director.
King Henry, the venerable children’s performer and Brooklyn Cyclones announcer, was also on hand to talk about the importance of team sports.
“When my grades were a little poor as a college freshman I joined the wrestling team, and my coach got me to bring my grades up,” he said. “I told the kids how you get to the Olympics: not by being couch potatoes and playing a video games all day. You have to get out and be the guy in the video game.”