For the 17th consecutive year, the Spanos family and the San Diego Chargers are continuing their support for youth health and fitness by awarding $250,000 in Chargers Champions grants to San Diego County schools.
"Schools throughout California need our support," said President - Business Operations A.G. Spanos. "The main goal of our program is to help provide students with the necessary means to live a healthy lifestyle through physical fitness."
Chargers Champions provides grants for new facilities and equipment to improve the physical fitness of students in San Diego County schools.
The following 10 schools received grants to improve physical fitness, athletic or nutrition programs on school campuses and will be honored on the field during the Chargers regular season home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 18 at Qualcomm Stadium.
| Southwest High School, San Diego | $75,000 | New weight room |
| San Ysidro High School, San Diego | $47,000 | Refurbish weight room |
| Monroe Clark Middle School, San Diego | $37,000 | Refurbish weight room |
| Pacific Beach Middle School, San Diego | $34,000 | New indoor cycling program |
| Zamarano Elementary School, San Diego | $30,000 | Learning lab, railyard course |
| King-Chavez Athletics Academy, San Diego | $10,000 | New Sqord Activity trackers |
| Joyner Elementary School, San Diego | $6,000 | New P.E. equipment |
| Scripps Rancho High School, San Diego | $5,500 | New football safety/training equipment |
| Sunset Hill Elementary School, San Diego | $3,000 | New outdoor nutrition break tables |
| Richland Elementary School, San Marcos | $2,500 | New lap tracking system |
The 2016 recipients were selected by the Chargers Champions Leadership Team, which is comprised of key business, community and educational leaders in San Diego County.
The Chargers Champions Leadership Team
Marilyn Brown, Vice President, Silberrad Inc.
Jim Esterbrooks, California Interscholastic Federation
Scott Giusti, Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics, San Diego Unified School District
Bill Johnston, Director of Public Relations, San Diego Chargers
Blake Miller, Vice President, Communications, Cymer
John Shacklett, High School Sports Association
A.G. Spanos, President - Business Operations, San Diego Chargers
Jodie Spanos, Former Management & Program Analyst, U.S. Dept. of Education
Bruce Ward, Retired Director Physical Education, Health & Athletics, San Diego Unified School District
Since the program's inception in 2000, the Spanos family has donated nearly $5.2 million to San Diego's schools and students through Chargers Champions. The program consistently provides more support for San Diego-area schools than any other individual or private company in San Diego County.
"Our Southwest High School community is honored that our San Diego Chargers have selected our school to be a recipient of this generous grant," Lee Romero, Principal at Southwest High School said. "The money that our school will be receiving will provide our students with a state-of-the-art exercise facility that any school can be proud of."
Funds allocated to Chargers Champions are administered through the Chargers Community Foundation, the team's charitable foundation. The Foundation was established in 1995 by Dean and Alex Spanos to "help San Diego build on its strengths by supporting individuals, activities and organizations that work to make the city a better place to live."
