T-Mobile representatives will present the Zach Summers, the Keokuk Community School District athletic director, with a $5,000 check for being a $5K Friday Winner prior to the Homecoming game at 6:40 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4, at Calvert Stadium. $5K Fridays were the first step of the company’s Friday Night 5G Lights contest where the Grand Prize winner will win a stadium upgrade worth $2 million.
The district explained that Friday Night Lights in Keokuk is truly the heartbeat of the community, KCSD hopes that this opportunity will elevate how the students, athletes, and performers will be able to demonstrate their gifts and talents, while offering the community a venue of which to be even more proud—a place to rally in support of the Chiefs.
Friday’s check will go towards a new scoreboard at Calvert. This was the first step in the contest that KHS won and the next round will include being hopefully chosen for the Top 16 on Oct. 10 out of the 300 nationally that won a $5K Fridays spot. KHS is the only high school that won from Southeast Iowa of towns with less than 150,000 in population.
Each of the Top 16 will be awarded a $25,000 grant and the community can help Until Oct. 10, because KHS can earn a bonus entry to be chosen for the Top 16 when any public Instagram user posts about Calvert Stadium and tags @KeokukCSD and @tmobile, and uses the hashtags, #FN5GL and #Sweepstakes.
T-Mobile hosted the competition to celebrate small towns by elevating the thrill of high school football and to give small communities across America the “opportunity to shine.”
The Top 16 are based on the potential impact on the schools football facilities and the compelling story of why each school needs physical and/or technical improvements to the stadium as well as the social media support from the Keokuk Community on Instagram.
After the Top 16 are chosen, the Grand Prize winning high school will be determined by the total number of likes on a video that the Keokuk Community School District would produce and post on Oct. 10 and will need to be voted on through Nov. 12 on Instagram. Also, KHS would need to participate in a food drive during that period. The Grand Prize winning high school would be announced on Dec. 5.
The Grand Prize is worth $2 Million and includes a $100,000 school grant, upgraded weight room from GronkFitness.com, new high technology scoreboard, a consultation with football field experience experts to get professional tips to “elevate the game” of the players, 5G Network upgrades package to help with real-time streaming and scoreboard activity and connect the devices, including enabling 5G biometric sensors to accelerate team performance, and finally a huge tailgate party celebration with live music and a 5G-powered halftime drone show for the 2025 football season.
The school’s community rallying around it, as well as showing the most spirit and garnering the most likes on Instagram is how a school would win the Grand Prize from the Top 16, which will be announced on Dec. 5, 2024.
