MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Hitting the books paid off for a group of South Florida students.
Good grades earned them a gigantic superstar surprise.
Honor roll students at Scott Lake Elementary got a super-sized surprise Monday by NBA great Shaquille O’Neal.
“This goal was not known to anyone but today was a big surprise. You heard the ‘Chuga chuga choo choo,’ cause that’s our entering call, and the kids answer the call, and they made the A train,” said Principal of Scott Lake Elementary, Dr. Bridget McKinney.
It was a greeting well fit for the 7-footer nicknamed the Diesel.
“I didn’t think he could fit through the door,” said student Londyn Johnson.
O’Neal not only made his way through the doors at the Miami Gardens elementary school but was known for his generosity. The former Heat star and NBA legend also awarded seven deserving students with a special gift for their academic achievement for making the principal’s honor roll.
“I am gonna bless all honor roll students with some iPads. It’s a good thing to do, a good motivation,” said O’Neal.
The kids invited to the special assembly also had a brief Q and A with O’Neil.
“It was very nice. I’ve never met a celebrity before, though, so that was nice,” said Johnson.
“Learning his shoe size and how many rims he’s broke, you heard the questions that were raised in there, the kids are amazed because they’ve always seen him through a screen and to see him up and close in person had to be a moment they will never forget,” said McKinney.
For Shaq, who now refers to himself as Uncle Shaq, he believes that this is the least he can do.
“I was once them, and a guy that made me become who I wanted to become was a guy named Julius Erving, Dr. J. The oath that I made them read today was the same oath I used to tell myself every day, ‘I will become whoever I want to become. Nothing is gonna stop me,'” said O’Neal.
Shaq plans on making a return visit to the school, which made more students eager to make the principal’s honor roll.
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