Schools

Immaculate Heart 'SuperMom' Wins NFL Contest

Just a week ago, Joanne McShalley needed your help to win a trip to the NFL Pro Bowl for her family, and now she's won the prize.

Almost two weeks to the day after the Baltimore Ravens visited Immaculate Heart of Mary School, the mom responsible for bringing them there has won a trip to the NFL Pro Bowl next month in Hawaii.

Joanne McShalley, a mother of two whose son Brian attends Immaculate Heart, organized a photograph that won her school a visit from the Ravens as part of an NFL Play 60 contest. McShalley was also named Immaculate Heart's "super parent" by contest partner Proctor & Gamble and entered into a contest alongside 33 other NFL Super Parents to win a trip to the NFL Pro Bowl.

The contest was vote driven, and McShalley used social media and Patch to try and score a win—a plan that worked. On Monday, she found out that she's headed to Hawaii.

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"I picked my son up from school and we did the whole car pool—I didn’t say anything. We got home and my daughter was already there ... I finally got my husband on the phone and put him on speaker," McShalley said. "I’m going to cry now telling you the story; we were all crying and jumping up and down."

The NFL/Proctor & Gamble "Take it to the House" Facebook page, created for the contest, describes McShalley as "an advocate for fitness, athletics, and the old-fashioned outdoors." The page goes on to say that she has been a "non-stop booster of [Immaculate Heart's] spirit."

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McShalley is taking her husband Frank, son Brian and daughter Molly, who is also an Immaculate Heart alum, to Honolulu for six days and five nights. They will have tickets to watch the NFC stars go head-to-head with the AFC at Aloha Stadium on Jan. 29.

The family will participate in a community service activity, a block party and a tailgate—but they have other plans too.

"I want to take the kids up to the North Shore to see the big waves—they'll be up in January," McShalley said. "Other than that, we'll head to Pearl Harbor and see some of the more isolated spots and the real Hawaii."

McShalley said she was surprised by the win and wanted to extend her thanks to everyone who voted for her.

"It’s just unbelievable, the outpouring of love and support. I’ve never really used Facebook before this contest, but it was amazing to see. My husband, he’d say, 'Do you know this person?' I’d say, 'No.' It’s unbelievable that someone would vote every day for someone they don’t even know,” McShalley said.

For the McShalley family, the win represents more than just a vacation—it's the fulfillment of a dream.

“My husband and I have been to Hawaii before. That’s where we went on our honeymoon and I’ve been dying to take the kids out there. I don’t know how it would have ever happened without this contest,” McShalley said.


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