Kathleen Fitzpatrick is schooling her third-grade class on how to sink the long shots.
Fitzpatrick, an elementary school teacher at Holy Trinity School in Washington, D.C., told her kiddos that they’d get a hot chocolate party if she sank a long-range shot while playing basketball at school with them.
Kathleen Fitzpatrick.G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty
Speaking with ESPN’sSage Steeleon Thursday, Fitzpatrick opened up about the triumphant moment that’s been making the rounds online, telling the sportscaster, “I usually play basketball with them at recess, and I don’t really take it lightly. I play as hard as I can.”
Fitzpatrick went on to tell Steele that one Friday afternoon, she picked up a ball and told her third graders, “If I make this shot, we’ll have hot chocolate on Monday as a class.”
With an assist from a kid dressed in a reindeer costume, Fitzpatrick said, “I just launched it and it went in.”
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The Georgetown teacher’s incredible long-range shot wasn’t just a fluke, though. Fitzgerald is actuallya former Division I basketball playerat Rutgers, which explains her excellent form and love for the game.
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“That was an amazing shot, and you know, we talk about pressure, you’ve been through pressure, we’ve seen that shot,“Carterstarted, referring to her game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer while playing college ball, which was shown during her interview.
“But listen – tell me this: you’re talking about pressure,” the former NBA star continued. “You promised hot chocolate to these kids. Imagine you not making this shot and you having to hear it on Monday.”
In addition to her awe-inspiring shot, Steele also praised Fitzpatrick for being a teacher and dealing with the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic for the last two years, telling former D1 athlete that she “brought smiles to the faces of so many people that you’ve never met and probably never will meet” with her incredible basket.
“It’s been so insane the last year-and-a-half,” Fitzpatrick said, referring to kids having to quarantine or testing positive for COVID on almost a daily basis. “So just to have some fun, some laughter, some joy, and just forget about COVID for a few minutes has really been amazing.”
Added Fitzpatrick of the Monday morning hot chocolate party: “It was awesome!”
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source: people.com
