The Power Team and Red Ribbon Week

There is a lot of competition for a child’s attention these days, and while more trivial messages may be missed without a problem, you don’t want important ones to be lost in white noise. There is no danger of that with The Power Team.

Founded in the 1970s by John Jacobs, The Power Team is a group of athletes who perform incredible feats of strength to engage and excite their audiences while a positive and critical message is shared. 

Currently helmed by long-time member and President Todd Keene, The Power Team is still performing and inspiring people across the globe. “I am right now the longest-tenured member of The Power Team,” said Todd, who joined the team in the mid-90s after his football career ended. “I knew the entertainment side and also the business side, and I was voted in when John left.”

They may perform globally, but the Power Team is based in Flower Mound, where Todd also runs the successful All The Things Med Spa with his wife and business partner Courtney. This October, The Power Team is bringing their message to Wellington Elementary School and hopefully more LISD schools during National Red Ribbon Week. “We have performed all over the world, and this is our home base,” Todd said. “We haven’t done a lot of events in our area, but we want to get the word out in town that we are here.”

When The Power Team shows up for an event, they bring a time-tested formula with a custom twist. “We come into a school and really meet the needs of that school. If the principal says they want us to focus on something, or they are struggling with this one thing, our group is great at adapting,” Todd said. “We start with the feats of strength, like busting soda cans or breaking bats, and it really gives us a window to reach the kids. You can set the kids on a course right there.”

With positive messages to “Be a Dream Maker, Not a Dream Breaker,” and “Be a Buddy, Not a Bully,” Todd and his team tackle issues that affect kids from elementary school through college. The focus of the Red Ribbon Week messages are more specifically about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and are adapted to what each age-group can handle.

Starting with energetic music, a two-person team will alternate between feats of strength, such as the team’s quintessential ripping a phone book in half, and a serious topic. “We mix in catchphrases with our feats of strength, like ‘cheaters never win’ and other banter to keep the energy up,” Todd said. “We may bring up some students to talk about peer pressure or be part of one of our feats. We sometimes include teachers. We always end with a big finale feat of strength.”

The audience participation helps engage students and staff alike, but it’s the team itself that makes the whole program work. “Being able to do the feats of strength isn’t the hard part,” said Todd. “You have to be able to stand up and speak. Our people have to be athletes, they have to have the chops to be morally sound. Also, they are Dale Carnegie trained. That combo is really rare.”

Approaching their 50th Anniversary next year, the team’s message is always positive. Regardless of the subject matter, building up students accompanies the feats of strength. 

“It’s a juxtaposition. You don’t have to be a world-class athlete to be a world-class person,” Todd said. “We tell the kids that if you are smarter, faster, or stronger than other people, you should use that to help other people not bully people.”

Often, these events spark change across a community. “Our school assemblies are very, very effective and we’ve done them for nearly 50 years,” Todd said. “We have had mayors and police chiefs ask us to come back to an area because they have seen a decrease in youth crime after we have done assemblies there.”

The Power Team is looking to present assemblies to as many local schools as possible this October and is offering over 50% off for schools who sign up for Red Ribbon Week. “We are hoping this helps launch an annual event in our city,” said Courtney, who is also Director of Development for The Power Team. “We are a non-profit that takes donations so we can say yes to schools that can’t afford our programs. We love for local businesses and even families to sponsor our assemblies for schools.”

To take advantage of The Power Team school discount for this year’s Red Ribbon Week in October, email courtney@thepowerteam.com, or visit thepowerteam.com for more information.