Oklahoma City superintendent makes good on Heat-Thunder bet

Superintendent Karl Springer made good on a bet he made with the Miami Superintendent during the NBA playoffs this summer. The Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, so Springer taught a Florida history class while wearing a Miami Heat jersey.

 
By Carrie Coppernoll | Published: September 27, 2012    Comment on this article Leave a comment

A few minutes after 2 p.m. Wednesday, a video of Alberto Carvalho appeared on a projector screen in the North Highland Elementary School library.

photo - Superintendent Karl Springer talks with Nathaniel Hamilton Wednesday at North Highland Elementary School. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Superintendent Karl Springer talks with Nathaniel Hamilton Wednesday at North Highland Elementary School. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

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“Hello, boys and girls,” Carvalho said to a class of wiggly kindergartners.

One boy turned his head to the side and shouted, “Where are you?”

It was the perfect segue for the lesson the students were about to learn.

Carvalho was in Miami, Fla., home of the 2012 NBA champions, the Miami Heat.

Carvalho is the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and he was calling in on a bet he made this summer with Oklahoma City Superintendent Karl Springer. The administrators each bet on their home team to win the NBA title, and Springer was on the losing end of the wager.

The price: teaching a lesson about Florida to a group of Oklahoma City students.

Wednesday afternoon, Springer taught nearly 20 kindergartners while wearing a LeBron James jersey that Carvalho sent.

His students, however, all wore bright blue Oklahoma City Thunder shirts donated by the team.

Vivian Fuller, 5, said the oversized blue T-shirt she wore was her first Thunder shirt. She said she likes to watch the team play, thought she admits she doesn't watch every game.

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