{"id":158141,"date":"2026-01-31T16:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/158141\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T16:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:40:08","slug":"fresno-athletic-hall-of-fame-teams-up-with-youth-for-black-history-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/158141\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame Teams Up With Youth for Black History Month"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a long-established partnership with Thomas Elementary School, the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame opened its doors Thursday morning so that 53 students could meet local sports heroes and hear the importance of overcoming challenges to succeed in life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis day is about telling the kids what it takes to be successful on and off the field. Not just in sports, but in life.\u201d \u2014 Rod Perry, Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame inductee and two-time LA Rams Pro Bowl cornerback<\/p>\n<p>The students toured the Hall\u2019s interactive displays at Fresno State\u2019s Save Mart Center and met with Hall of Fame inductees J.D. Williams, Yvette Roberts, Rod Perry, and Maxie Parks.<\/p>\n<p>Williams, a former Buffalo Bills first-round draft pick, Fresno State All-American, and Super Bowl player, gifted a signed Bulldogs football helmet to a boy who had profiled him a year ago for his school Black History Month project.<\/p>\n<p>Visibly moved, the longtime Fresno State assistant football coach promised to make arrangements for the student to attend a Bulldogs game this fall.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-230378\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Thomas-JD-Helmet_Compressed-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Former Buffalo Bills cornerback JD Williams presents a signed Fresno State football helmet to a Thomas Elementary School Student\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\"  \/>Former Buffalo Bills cornerback JD Williams presents a signed Fresno State football helmet to a Thomas Elementary School Student, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, at the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. (FAHOF)<br \/>\nResearch and Presentations<\/p>\n<p>Under the program, students come to the Hall of Fame, and pick an inductee to write about. During the session, they have an opportunity to ask questions of the inductees. They return to school and do further research. On Feb. 27 at Thomas Elementary, they will read their reports and present photos.<\/p>\n<p>Events like these fulfill one of the Hall of Fame\u2019s biggest missions: Exposing youth to the importance of education, discipline, and teamwork in life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis day is about telling the kids what it takes to be successful on and off the field. Not just in sports, but in life,\u201d said Perry, who starred at Hoover High School before becoming a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback with the Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n<p>Said Roberts, perhaps the greatest women\u2019s basketball player in Fresno State history: \u201cIt\u2019s amazing that you can come in here, touch one button, and get everybody\u2019s information. It\u2019s just so awesome.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think if they can see all the hard work we put into it, and giving back to the community, and they can see what they can do. I think\u2019s it\u2019s pretty important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cammie Southern, advisor to the school\u2019s Black Student Union, gives the program and the Hall of Fame a thumbs-up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis really connects where the kids are with technology,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, I think it\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-230379\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Thomas-students_Compressed-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Image of Thomas Elementary School students and staff at the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\"  \/>Image of Thomas Elementary School students and staff at the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (FAHOF)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a long-established partnership with Thomas Elementary School, the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame opened its doors Thursday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-158141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}