Ex-Steeler speaks to WG students
ROGERSVILLE – West Greene students and faculty wore their Steelers jerseys to school this past week to welcome a special visitor–former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch.
Batch, who played for the Steelers for 11 of his 15 years in the NFL, spoke to the student body Wednesday morning about making good life decisions and working hard in school. His motivational speech was part of the district’s peer mentoring program, which allows high school students to mentor middle school students who may be struggling with attendance or grades.
Batch said his message to the students was twofold.
“I wanted to thank them for what they’re doing,” he said. “They’re leaders in the school. And the second thing is trying to bring about the message that you can be successful.”
Batch said that many of the students he speaks to across southwestern Pennsylvania see him as a professional athlete and don’t realize that he was once like them, working hard to get through school and balancing a struggle-filled home life.
He talked to the students about his struggle through college, in 1996, when his sister, Danyl Settles, was murdered in the Pittsburgh area neighborhood they grew up in, Homestead. Her case has never been solved.
“It took me a while to get over that,” he told the students.
One of the students asked Batch what it was like to play with “Big Ben” Roethlisberger.
“Because I’m older than Ben, I didn’t call him ‘Big Ben,'” Batch said in reply. “You know what I called him – Benjamin – because that’s what his mom named him.”
Batch also cracked a few jokes at the expense of the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh’s biggest rival, in reference to the upcoming game Christmas Day game that will likely decide who wins the AFC North division.
Jed Hamberger, assistant principal of the high school, said the peer program has been funded through a grant over the past year. He said the high school students meet with the middle school students once a week.
“The mentees’ attendance has gone through the roof,” Hamberger said. “And grades have increased across the board.”
Hamberger said the program also allows for special mentoring field trips for the students and bringing in special speakers like Batch.
“Go out there and have a wonderful holiday season,” Batch told the students. “Really share it with your family because these are moments you won’t get back.”