BONNERS FERRY — Some ran through the tunnel, arms raised high, a full backpack swinging, attempting to give high fives to every Bonners Ferry football team member lined up at the entrance to Valley View Elementary on the first day of school Tuesday.

Others stayed in the middle, carefully reaching out to give a high five to one player as they shyly made their way from the parking lot to the school's front doors.

The annual greeting stems from an effort to connect the football team with the community, BFHS head coach Danny Swift said. At first, a handful of players would come down to the elementary school once a week and have lunch with some of the kids. It wasn't long before that weekly greeting grew into the "welcome to school" greeting a few years ago.

"We really want to connect our high school football players to their community and the youth and just remind everybody that we're all one," Swift said. "… Let's make the first day the best it could be."

District and BFHS officials quickly signed off on the plan, and it's been a tradition ever since, Swift said.

"It's a lot of fun and there's a lot of high fives, a lot of smiles, some tears," he added. "I haven't seen any tears this year, so that's cool, not from kids, from moms that were so scared to drop their kids off. To see the kids, give mom a hug and then run through and be happy is great. This is one of the ways we can give back to our community."

The annual tradition is fun for the players and coaches as well as the elementary school students, assistant coach David Koon said. While it's hard to tell who has more fun, Koon said he would give the edge to the players, who enjoy making connections with the younger students.

Although he conceded, the elementary students have fun, too.

"Their eyes get all big when they see us and they get the biggest smiles," Koon said.

Badger quarterback Alex Stolley said it's fun to welcome the students and wish them a good first day of school.

"We want to welcome all of the little kids back to school so we think this is very fun," Stolley said. "It's awesome to say hi to all of the kids and wish them a good first day and welcome them back."

Stolley said some students are really happy to see the team, eagerly racing up to run through the tunnel of players lining the entrance to the school. Others are quieter, sticking to the center, head down and not reaching out to slap the outstretched hands of the BFHS football players.

"Some of them are really happy to see us," the high school senior said. "Some are a little bit more shy but that's OK. We really enjoy just seeing them and watching them have a good first day of school."

Stolley said his favorite reaction is when the students race through the tunnel, arms lifted high so they could slap every hand.

"That's always awesome," he added with a grin. "That gets us hyped."

Stolley said he loves seeing the smiles and helping the younger students start the school year off with something fun. He loves that the team gets the time to spend with the students, adding that it's something he would have loved to see as an elementary school student.

"I would have really liked seeing the high school football team greet me at school because I always looked up to them," he added. "Now that I am a high school football kid, I'm glad I get to be their role model."

Wide receiver Ben Hollabaugh agreed with Stolley that the event is one of the team's favorite activities.

"Whenever they're running through with both hands out, just excited to be here, excited to see us, it makes us laugh and just makes us happy," the high school junior said.

Not only do they enjoy giving back to the community, the team loves being able to connect with their younger fans and maybe show them what it's like to be a Badger.

"I think it gives a positive influence on what football is to the little kids," Hollabaugh said. "I feel like it shows it has a positive impact and gives them an influence to join the football team and that brings our future to the program."

Like his players, Swift said his favorite part of the event is the smiles and sheer joy from the elementary students when they are welcomed back to school by the players they have seen playing under the lights on Friday nights.

But, he noted, the football players have as much fun as the younger students.

"They get so much joy out of giving back," Swift said. "They're doing the little things like this. They're such great kids and great human beings and I just love to see that in our program."

He loves the interaction between the two groups of students, seeing them interacting and making genuine connections.

"It just makes my heart happy, in a world where you know screens and technology consume us with so much, to see these guys out here with no phones, with no electronics, just loving their community, and just doing something that's bigger than themselves," Swift said.

Swift remembers being a "Badger Buddy" when he attended and played at Bonners Ferry High School. In that program, students would put their names in for a drawing, with several students selected to win a football jersey and lunch with some of the players, as well as throwing the football around on the playground.

"When I was blessed to come back to the program, it was something I felt was a significant way to not only grow our program but connect with our kids, our younger kids and just unify our community by giving back."