It's the Last School Year for the Legal Eagles
By: Barb Consiglio
Updated: May 25, 2010
CLEARFIELD COUNTY---A local organization that teaches students how important it is to live up to their potential is calling it quits after this school year.
The Legal Eagles have been encouraging students in Clearfield County to reach for the stars for nearly a decade, but founder, Mark Falvo, says it’s become too big of a project to sustain on a volunteer basis.
Falvo started The Legal Eagles back in 2001 with the goal of helping students realize what they’re capable of, and he says it’s something he’ll have a hard time letting go of.
“You wish you could do it forever, just to help somebody” Falvo said, “If it was a regular paying job it would be great. The sponsorship has been great across the community, knowing that there’s really an economic crunch going on and it’s tough right now, but if I could do it for the rest of my life…sure.”
Falvo has presented as many opportunities as possible to kids all over Clearfield County because he says you never know what’s going to sink in for each individual student.
Jenna Soult, a 4th Grader at Clearfield Elementary, said she loves when the Legal Eagles come to her school.
“We had a guy from the Secret Service come in and show us what it’s like to be in the Secret Service, and we got to watch this really cool video of like car chases and what they do, their training and stuff. It was really neat,” Soult said.
Her classmate, Reese Wilson, said he’s learned a lot from the Legal Eagles as well.
“I’ve learned that if you set a goal, it’s very possible to achieve it,” he said.
Participating schools are also sad to see the Legal Eagles go because they provide learning experiences that can’t be taught in a classroom.
“We believe that every student can be successful, that every kid can be ready for college,” said Clearfield Elementary School’s Principal, Jamie Quick, “Legal Eagles shares that same message with real life examples of people who have been successful, regardless of what their background was.”
Falvo is still hoping that some group or individual will takeover The Legal Eagles and keep it going. He said he’d be glad to share his contacts, as well as some tips and tricks he’s learned over the years, to anyone’s who’s interested.
