School can sometimes be a drag, but an educational show featuring an NFL football player and a professional DJ made for a fun afternoon for Acmetonia Primary School students.

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Levi Wallace was welcomed with raucous cheers and applause Friday when he visited the Allegheny Valley district school to educate students about air pollution.

The assembly was a last-minute score for the elementary, selected as the random winner of a sweepstakes sponsored by Buffalo, N.Y.-based Austin Air Systems earlier this week. Every school in Allegheny County was invited to participate in the contest.

Wallace was introduced by DJ Milk, the official DJ of the Buffalo Bills, where Wallace previously played.

“I grew up with asthma, and it limited me to play sports and to be learning because I had really bad asthma attacks,” Wallace told the crowd of students and staff dressed head to toe in Steelers attire. “So it was important to be a part of Austin Air.”

The crowd listened as DJ Milk played informational videos about the dangers of air pollution, which highlighted how issues such as smoke and chemical inhalation can cause cancer and other health issues.

The energy quickly turned up a notch as the DJ played dance music for the students. Some showed off their moves at the front of the crowd.

The duo also quizzed students on the impact of poor air quality.

Wallace distributed signed Terrible Towels and also signed items brought by the students after a question-and-answer session.

He said his upbringing instilled desire to reach out to children in the community.

“It was never about football and winning football games,” Wallace said. “It’s about what you do with the platform. I’m in this position now, and now I have the resources to give back.”

McCall Emerick, a sixth grade science teacher, entered the school into the sweepstakes.

Emerick has conducted an air quality flag program at the school over the past decade. Students raise flags with colors symbolizing the air quality index and study its impact on the environment.

“We were joking that we had won it, and we found out the other night on the news that we actually did,” Emerick said.

Principal Gregory Heavner had no idea Emerick applied for the sweepstakes, but said it was exciting, particularly because the pandemic hampered the school’s ability to hold assemblies.

“This was an exciting way to start the second half of the school year,” Heavner said. “Kids were excited. It was on the news, of course, the parents saw the news. It’s much needed. … Coming off the pandemic, we didn’t have a lot of assemblies. So we’re getting our legs under us now, having a lot of people coming in. Kids need this.”

Stacy Malesiewski, marketing director for Austin Air Systems, said educating children about air pollution and its impact on the environment and body is critical, especially after the pandemic shed more light on the subject.

The company is a manufacturer and supplier of medical grade HEPA air filters. HEPA has proven to be 99.7% effective at capturing viral particles associated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid, according to the company.

“It has within recent years really become an educational opportunity with us,” Malesiewski said. “We are the only air purifier company that participates in clinical trials. So we’ve partnered with Johns Hopkins University and a bunch of other research organizations. So education is key for us.”

As of Friday, the highest levels of pollution in Allegheny County was measured in Avalon, coming in at 46 on the air quality index. That is deemed “good” quality.

For those interested in learning more about the county’s air quality, visit www.alleghenycounty.us/Health-Department/Programs/Air-Quality/Air-Quality.aspx.

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