Ex-hockey player, coaches, mascot were Bruin’ up a treat Monday for Nashua students

NASHUA – Students hugged or high-fived a big stuffed bear last Monday in the all-purpose room at Charlotte Avenue School. The bear high-fived them back. Blades, the Boston Bruins mascot, was greeted as a celebrity at the school, as were some other important, albeit less-recognizable  Bruins, including the strength and conditioning coach, equipment manager and a retired player. Students were impressed with the visit, even a few who admitted they don’t follow hockey. No one seemed happier than Jakob McDonough, a special needs fifth-grader, who wore a Bruins jersey for the occasion and couldn’t stop beaming the biggest smile. “He looks like a kid in a candy store right now,” said fifth-grade teacher Jillian Brickley. The Bruins brought this message: Eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise and do your homework. Then, they played a little floor hockey. “If you don’t start these habits at an early age, you can’t do it later on,” John Whitesides, the strength and conditioning coach, told the fifth-graders. The appearance was through the Bruins’ community educational program called the ICE School, for I Can Excel. The program develops a curriculum in such subjects as math, language arts and geography and provides supplemental materials to elementary and middle school teachers throughout New England.