Schools

Elkridge Teachers Win Playoff Tickets

On Friday, Elkridgeans scored a trip to the AFC championship during a Ravens rally in Columbia.

When the Ravens play the Patriots in Sunday's American Football Conference championship game in New England, two Elkridge residents will be there to support them.

Drew DiMaggio and Wendy Strawhorn won a trip to the big game by stopping by a Purple Friday Caravan at the Giant on Centre Park Drive in Columbia on Jan. 20.

Both winners live in Elkridge—in separate residences, Strawhorn was quick to point out—and work at Jeffers Hill Elementary School in Columbia, where DiMaggio teaches fifth grade and Strawhorn teaches in the gifted and talented program.

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They said their Jeffers Hill students will be thrilled to learn of the prize their teachers won.

The two educators were able to attend the 1:30 p.m. event because Howard County public schools closed early Friday afternoon.

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"We made a pact when we came in the store," Strawhorn said. "If he won, he'd take me and if I won, I'd take him."

When the winning number was drawn, DiMaggio raised his arms in victory and walked through a crowd of about 200 high-fiving fans until he reached the Ravens official who handed him the coveted prize.

Ravens account executive Kate Kasabula gave DiMaggio a Ravens folder with all the necessary paperwork he and Strawhorn would need to board a charter plane and attend the game between the Patriots and the Ravens.

It will be a whirlwind trip in which they fly up and back on Sunday.

But the prize comes with a heavy burden.

"Your biggest responsibility is bringing back a win," Kasabula told the two teachers.

Asked about the weight of the responsibility of bringing back a victory for the home team, DiMaggio shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"It's not a problem," he said. "I think they're going to do it."


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