FORT OSAGE, Mo. — Initially, you may not think there's a strong connection between a high school library and sports.
At Fort Osage High School, tucked onto the second floor you can find librarian Paula Erickson.
She's been working inside schools for 27 years.
“You like poetry — so we’re going to do that one,” Erickson said to one of her mentees on Friday.
But the pages on her bookshelves are also a part of her playbook.
“Do you want to announce a JV game first?” she asked the mentee.
Erickson announces and keeps score at some high school sporting events and trains students interested in sports journalism to do the same.
“We talk sports — we talk Chiefs, we talk Royals,” she said. “I’m pretty involved in the sports stuff here at school.”
Her Chiefs fandom stretches across decades.
“I mean I was always watching,” she said. “I love the excitement, they always seem like they are having a good time; they are genuinely good people.”
GEHA, who has the naming rights of Arrowhead stadium, told her she had beat out hundreds of other people for a set of tickets to the big game.
“I was shocked to say the least when they told me I won,” she said.
Gene Willis, corporate social responsibility manager at GEHA, talked about why Erickson stood out as a fan.
“She talks about how she brings people together for her game-day experience — it isn’t just about her," Willis said.
She won two seats on the drum deck.
GEHA said during the fourth quarter Erickson will be the spirit leader and have the honor of banging the drum, usually a role occupied by celebrities, former players and coaches.
“Truly an experience that you can’t buy,” Willis said.
While she's excited, Erickson knows she has a lot of responsibility.
“I have to do this in front of thousands of people, millions on tv.,” she said. “I hope I don’t mess up. My husband was like that’s awesome, our friend was jumping up and down for us.”
Erickson hopes others take a page out of her playbook.
“I’m one of those people — if we go to the concert, I’m not on my phone, I like to soak it all in, I feel like that’s what I’ll be doing,” she said. “This season for sure, I’ve not lost when I’ve been to a game.”
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