Quick look: NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joined students at Thomas Edison Elementary to launch a new outdoor STEM partnership between his Skyhook Foundation and OCDE’s Inside the Outdoors. The celebration included 3,000 donated Adidas shoes and backpacks for Anaheim students.
For 20 professional seasons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had one of the most unstoppable moves in basketball, unleashing his patented sky hook to drop more than 38,000 points before retiring as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Now, through his Skyhook Foundation, he’s helping young people get their own shot — starting with hands-on lessons in science, technology and nature.
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, the NBA icon and former Los Angeles Laker visited Thomas Edison Elementary School in Anaheim to announce a new collaboration between the Skyhook Foundation and Inside the Outdoors — the long-running environmental education program operated by the Orange County Department of Education — and its philanthropic partner, the Inside the Outdoors Foundation. The initiative will expand outdoor STEM learning opportunities for students across Orange County.
To mark the occasion, more than 3,000 pairs of brand-new Adidas shoes and backpacks were donated to students in the Anaheim Elementary School District, thanks to Skyhook’s partnership with Adidas. All Edison students received gear, along with fourth- through sixth-grade students from six additional AESD campuses. Principals from each of the participating schools were in attendance.
The celebration began on the school’s blacktop, where rows of students faced the stage under a bright, powder blue sky — one that happened to match Abdul-Jabbar’s UCLA-colored Adidas warm-up jacket. As he made his entrance, the crowd erupted, with students waving purple and gold pom-poms and many wearing Lakers jerseys to welcome the towering basketball legend.
There, standing before them, was No. 33. The captain. The Hall-of-Famer. And the architect of a signature shot that was equal parts grace and poetry — and nearly impossible to defend from the late 60s through the late 80s.
“Giving you a shot that can’t be blocked means that, when you learn the things that you want to learn, you’re going to have a great living, and you’re going to enjoy what you’re doing for the rest of your life,” Abdul-Jabbar told the cheering crowd of elementary students. “And I want to see you guys doing that, because that’s really important to me.”
After his remarks, Abdul-Jabbar entered the school’s Research & Innovation Center to hand out gear, greet students and exchange high-fives. A long line of excited children waiting to meet him stretched out the door. Inside, boxes of Adidas shoes were neatly stacked in front of forms listing each child’s name and shoe size, ready for distribution.
Bigger than basketball
Regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a six-time NBA champion, six-time league MVP and three-time NCAA champion with UCLA. He held the NBA’s all-time scoring record for nearly 40 years before it was surpassed in 2023 by fellow Laker LeBron James. Beyond basketball, he’s a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, best-selling author, and an award-winning columnist and documentary producer.
His Skyhook Foundation’s Camp Skyhook model has already brought immersive outdoor learning to students in Los Angeles through a partnership with LAUSD. The new Orange County collaboration builds on that model by tapping into Inside the Outdoors’ five-decade history of delivering hands-on environmental science and STEM education.
The Anaheim Elementary School District was chosen as the launch site in part because of its deep and sustained commitment to Inside the Outdoors. Since 2015, AESD has partnered with the program to ensure all TK–6 students receive environmental education, both in the classroom and through field trips.
“I don’t know how familiar you are in terms of our partnership and collaboration with the Orange County Department of Education and Inside the Outdoors,” said AESD Superintendent Jesse Chavarria. “It actually goes back to the 1980s when our first sixth-graders started to participate in the Orange County Science School. That partnership, that collaboration has actually gotten much stronger.”
Classrooms without walls
County Superintendent Dr. Stefan Bean also addressed the crowd, emphasizing the importance of nature-based learning.
“Sometimes the best classroom has no walls,” Dr. Bean said.
“That’s what Inside the Outdoors is all about — helping students discover, explore and question the world around them,” he added. “It’s where STEM learning comes alive, not in textbooks, but in the air we breathe, the ground we touch and the curiosity that moves us forward.”
Afterward, Edison Elementary Principal Suzanne Nichols described the energy on campus as “electric,” with students eagerly counting down the days to the event.
“The whole week, it was, ‘When is he coming?’ and ‘When are we getting our shoes?’” Nichols said.
She shared that every Edison student — from transitional kindergarten through grade six — gets to experience at least one field trip each year through Inside the Outdoors, visiting places like Shipley Nature Center, Irvine Regional Park and the Newport Wetlands.
“They’ve just been a dream to work with — always responsive, always professional and truly committed to meaningful experiences for students,” Nichols said.
In addition to field trips, the program sends “Traveling Scientists” into classrooms to lead hands-on lessons tied to grade-level science standards, further enriching students’ understanding of the natural world. One of their animal ambassadors, Kevin Owlexander — a Great Horned Owl — made a special appearance at Edison on Wednesday alongside the Inside the Outdoors team.
As the morning unfolded, Abdul-Jabbar seemed to relish his individual interactions with students. And to the larger group, he offered a few words of inspiration that included the story of Lewis Latimer, a Black inventor who played a critical role in developing the light bulb.
“When you guys might have an idea about something, well, educate yourself about that thing,” he told the students. “And you might get a patent for a light bulb. I would love that. And I can come by your house and have lunch.”
To learn more about Inside the Outdoors programs, visit ito.ocde.us. To learn more about the Skyhook Foundation or to make a donation, visit skyhookfoundation.org.
