Nutter awards students with sports tickets for their hard work

Mayor Nutter's message to a group of students this afternoon in City Hall was simple: stay in school, graduate and do something positive.

"The most important thing is to think for yourself… don't follow the crowd," Nutter said. "Stay on the straight and narrow. Stay away from bad people, stay away from negative people."

Nutter gave 170 high school students two tickets each to attend sporting events throughout the city –at Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park and the Wells Fargo Center as part of the Mayor's VIP Program, which awards tickets to sophomores in public, private, charter and parochial schools for their hardwork. So far, for the 2011-2012 school year, 760 tickets have been given out.

Tickets are also provided to events at Temple Univeristy and St. Joseph's University.

Nutter encouraged the students to go to college or a trade school after high school.

"There has to be more learning, more education after high school," Nutter said. "It's important that you graduate from high school, but it's equally important you go on after that."