One young A-State fan in Benton got a big surprise a couple of days ago. Things started innocently enough. On August 26th, Kathy Tolbert, a teacher at Howard Perrin Elementary, posted video on Twitter of her class, calling the Hogs and singing the Razorback fight song. The kids did great and were all super cute, but…
Room 108 is ready for the Razorbacks!!! ❤️?❤️ pic.twitter.com/XdtaCXHIiE
— Kathy (@kathy_tolbert2) August 26, 2022
…One of Kathy’s followers noticed that one child wasn’t participating, and even looked maybe somewhat disgusted in the video. As the rest of the class cheered, a boy named Cade sat in his chair with his arms crossed and his head downward.
A State fans be like pic.twitter.com/csKwL3BpJK
— Wuhan Front Facing Hog (@kkhogs) August 26, 2022
It turns out Cade is an Arkansas State (ASU) Red Wolves fan, and he refused to betray them by cheering on another team. You have to appreciate his loyalty. In fact, one person did. Saline County’s own Shane Broadway happened to hear about the young fan, and if you didn’t know, Shane is a bit of a Red Wolves fan himself. He’s an ASU graduate and is a former State Legislator but these days he makes a living as Vice President for University Relations for ASU.
@shanebroadway you need to come help this faithful @AStateRedWolves fan to howl!! The whole class was doing #wps and he refused! ?? https://t.co/YR8S6A14p1
— Shelli Poole (@arkansasshelli) September 7, 2022
After Shane got word about what happened, he put a plan into action to make it up to this young fan. He told me (okay yes, I was the one to notify him of the dire school spirit situation) that he was going to come to the school himself and surprise Cade with some team swag.
Big shout out to @kathy_tolbert2 for the invite to Room 108 @bentonschools and to @CoachButchJones & @JeffPurinton for sending our @AStateRedWolves fan Cade some swag. Great class and even better teacher! #WolvesUp https://t.co/8ljnGk7dG0
— Shane Broadway (@shanebroadway) September 23, 2022
And he sure did. Shane tagged me this time on Twitter to show the pictures from Friday, September 23rd. What a difference in the boy’s energy when a fellow Red Wolves fan came through for him! Cade’s face is lit up while sitting next to Shane, both of them making the Red Wolves hand signal. And this time, the whole class joined him. ?