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Rays

Rays to reward kids with tickets

The "Rays the Grades" program is part of the team's new owners' effort to boost community relations.

By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published February 17, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - First it was free parking; now it's free admission.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays announced Thursday that they will give away tickets to tens of thousands of public school students in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties who improve their classroom performance this spring. Principals at each school will determine the benchmark students must meet to earn the gift.

Each student who receives a free ticket also will be offered reduced-price tickets so family members can accompany them to a game. About 200,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade are eligible for the program, which will take place in April.

The program is the latest in a series of steps by the team's new owners to repair community ties that had frayed under their predecessors. Previously, they announced rules allowing fans to bring some food items into Tropicana Field; embarked on a $10-million renovation of the stadium; reworked the ticket structure that brought prices down for some seats; and promised to restructure concession prices.

Rays president Matt Silverman announced the new "Rays the Grades" program Thursday inside the team's spring training clubhouse at the Raymond A. Naimoli Baseball Complex in St. Petersburg. Standing with him were Terry Boehm, president of the Pinellas Education Foundation, and Bill Hoffman, president of the Hillsborough Education Foundation.

The foundations - private groups that raise money for public education - will handle distribution of Devil Rays ticket vouchers to every elementary and middle school in both districts.

Hoffman thanked the St. Petersburg franchise for reaching across Tampa Bay with the program. "We're thrilled that the Devil Rays support Hillsborough county schools' efforts to continuously improve student achievement," he said.

"It is incredibly important to let our young people know that there are role models in their community that care about what they're doing," Boehm said.

Tickets will not be awarded based on performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Silverman said the program is a pilot. If successful, he said, the team would expand it next year to other counties in the region.

Pinellas and Hillsborough students who hit the benchmarks set by their principals will receive ticket vouchers for upper reserve outfield seats, which usually sell for $8. Additional seats in the same sections will be offered for $5 to all of the student's family members, the team said.

If half the eligible students won tickets and took one parent or guardian with them, the team's gift would be valued at $1.1-million. The vouchers will be issued for 18 games, including the May 4 game against the New York Yankees and the July 6 game against the Boston Red Sox.

[Last modified February 17, 2006, 02:15:35]