PC Friars hockey coach shares positive message during Immaculate Conception visit

TROPHY TROUPE: Members of Nicole Whittaker’s Immaculate Conception pre-K class surrounded PC head hockey coach Nate Leaman, who brought along the Friars’ national championship trophy. His visit was arranged by parent Steve Napolillo, who doubles as the college’s senior associate athletic director.

(Sun Rise photos by Pete Fontaine)

LITTLE LEARNERS: Immaculate Conception students like Drew Napolillo, Brayden Sweeney, Lilliana Zarcaro, Annabelle Estrada, Jeffrey Hamilton, and Sienna Spaziante model their PC hockey hats during last week’s visit with the Friars head coach Nate Leaman.

(Sun Rise photos by Pete Fontaine)

DREAM BIG: Immaculate Conception pre-K students like Hunter Cormier put on a Providence College hockey jersey, tried on the Friars’ national championship ring, and posed for a special photo with head coach Nate Leaman during “Community Helpers” week.

(Sun Rise photos by Pete Fontaine)

Johnston Sun Rise · Thursday, October 27, 2016 1:34 pm

By Pete Fontaine

“Work hard every day,” Nate Leaman, who has built Providence College’s ice hockey Friars into a national power, told two-dozen plus students inside Nicole Whittaker’s pre-K classroom last Thursday morning during his first-ever visit to Immaculate Conception Regional Catholic School in Cranston.

Leaman, who coached PC to the 2015 NCAA National Championship, came with a video about the Friars’ title trek entitled “Dreams Do Come True.”

“It tied in nicely with our new school initiative called the ‘Growth Mindset,’” Immaculate Conception Principal Andrea Spaziante said. “In a growth mindset, people believe their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work – brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”

Like other speakers during Immaculate Conception’s “Community Helpers” week, Leaman scored a hat trick during his visit, which included reading to the students from a hockey book and asking them to match names with different letters – like “G,” in reference to “The Great One,” NHL legend Wayne Gretzky.

“This has been an exciting week in pre-K,” Whittaker said. “I extended an invitation to the parents in my classroom to come in to share and talk about how they help people within their community.”

Monday, Sgt. Lori Sweeney of the Cranston Police Department came to Immaculate Conception with four other officers and three K-9s for a lesson on how the dogs help solve crimes.

On Tuesday, a student’s mom who works at Home Depot brought tools and a wooden project for each child to build and paint and also gave each student a Home Depot apron.

Wednesday featured Carl Tasca from his family-owned Ford dealership for what Whittaker called a “fun day” that included a 2016 Mustang for the kids to play in.

“It was thrilling to have Coach Leaman here,” Whittaker said, thanking senior associate athletic director Steve Napolillo for arranging the visit and bringing along associate athletic director Kyle Murphy and sports information officer Mike Billings. “The part that really struck me was his message to the students that if you work hard and practice, you can do anything you want.”