If you ever need a reason to not skip school, remember that you might miss Shaquille O’Neal. The NBA legend with many hats took over a school recently. We’ve seen Shaq the analyst, restaurateur, DJ, rapper, actor, police officer, and the list goes on. Now Big Diesel arrived at a school for a new responsibility. He’s doing this for a cause very important to him. It’s only the start of a new campaign and more schools could get lucky enough to see the 4x NBA champion in person.

Education has been at the heart of most of O’Neal’s advocacy. The 51-year-old has taken up many causes to help young students. His most recent role is no different.

Houston elementary students meet Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal is passionate about helping students, is attached to the city of Houston, and is an education advocate. He combined all of this for his newest philanthropic venture. Shaq took over Pine Shadows Elementary School in Spring Branch for a very special cause.

He teamed up with MyEyeDr. to ensure students experience the annual solar eclipse on October 14 safely. Introducing himself as the “principal for the day,” Shaq addressed the kids about eye health and safety.

“I was one of those kids that I could read, but I really couldn’t see,” he told his young fans. “It made it seem like I couldn’t read, so I didn’t have a lot of confidence. … We just want to show the kids that we care about them.”

It’s for this reason that he partnered with other well-meaning parties. Pine Shadows was the venue to kick-start the campaign, which will spread to more schools across the company.

MyEyeDr. and Zyloware joined the NBA great to take their eye health campaign everywhere. Shaq brightened up a dull school day in the process and gave them a confidence boost. “I know there’s at least one kid who can’t really see and doesn’t have the confidence to say anything about it, so they just sit back and not do anything—because I was that kid.”

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While at Pine Shadows, O’Neal had some goodies for the students, too. He gave out backpacks containing school supplies and special sunglasses that would help the kids view the upcoming solar eclipse safely. Eyecare professionals also joined the event to educate young minds on eye health.

Like any good principal, Shaq also conducted the best assembly ever. The NBA legend took the stage to answer all the questions from kids. He answered questions like who is his favorite teammate – Kobe Bryant – and his favorite ice cream flavor – vanilla. If only every school day was this awesome. Picking Houston for the launch of this campaign was no coincidence.

Principal Diesel’s H-Town attachment

Shaq doesn’t need much convincing to help kids. He recently joined an ed-tech startup, Edsoma, as an investor to promote reading and literacy through their AI-powered app. He flew over to Houston after his TechCrunch Disrupt appearance.

O’Neal has ties with San Antonio and Houston for many years. His son, Shaqir, goes to college in Texas and he’s a frequent visitor to Houston. He owns several businesses in the city, including 24 Hour Fitness franchises and his very own Big Chicken Shaq outlets.

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He even thinks the Houston Rockets have a promising season ahead of them. He also lauded his old on-court nemesis and Rockets icon, Hakeem Olajuwon. But the kids matter to him most, and he did a lot more for the young kids during his one-day principal stint by making them smile.