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The Louisiana National Guard and New Orleans Saints guard/center Tim Lelito teamed up to visit Grace King High School as part of the Saints Leadership Program presented by the Louisiana National Guard on Wednesday. Representing the Louisiana National Guard was Sgt. David Melendez. Lelito and Melendez spoke to 500 freshman through senior high school students about the opportunity to join the National Guard. “We’re here to talk about how the National Guard can excel kids in academics if they don’t have sports scholarships," Lelito said. "Obviously, the leadership role that these kids have taken will play a tremendous role in stuff like that.” The assembly is part of the Saints Leadership Program presented by the Louisiana National Guard which aims to ensure the success of the youth in the community by presenting the importance of time management, leadership development and character building. Following Lelito and Melendez’s speeches, the students asked questions including how old you must be to join the National Guard to why Lelito joined the Saints. The students then had the chance to answer trivia questions about the visit and received autographed 2014 New Orleans Saints Yearbooks from Lelito. The Louisiana National Guard is looking to recruit students once they are 17 years old. Melendez stressed the importance of focusing on academics and looking for good leaders to join the National Guard. Students were eager, as many spoke to Melendez after his speech looking for more information on becoming a part of the Louisiana National Guard. “I love coming out to events like this,” Lelito said. “Especially because I always say these kids are the next generation coming up and they’re really going to hurt the world or help the world. So if I can go out there and talk to them right now and help; that will hopefully one day make the world a better place.”

Saints News | New Orleans Saints | NewOrleansSaints.com

Tim Lelito participated in Saints Leadership Program presented by the Louisiana National Guard

By Annie Hills