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Mayor Ross visits Person and his football team

Monday morning may have seemed like a dreary one weather-wise, but it was far from it for Martin High School freshman Cayden Person.

It makes sense, too, because Monday was all about Cayden in Arlington. After all, thanks to , today is Cayden Person Day in the city.

Person was honored by the mayor, 91��Ƭ�� superintendent Dr. Matt Smith, the Martin leadership team and his fellow Martin football players Monday morning for helping save the lives of a family over the summer.

“Doing stuff like this with kids is always the highlight of my day,” said Ross, who read a proclamation in front of the Martin football team. “I don’t care if it’s reading a book to elementary kids or coming out and recognizing a freshman who saved some lives. This is our future. They are going to be taking care of us in the future. Seeing kids like Cayden gives me some comfort that we’re going to be OK.”

On July 27, Person woke up to take his dogs outside. When he was outside, he heard a crackling sound from his neighbor’s backyard. Person realized it was a fire, went inside and told his mother to call 911 and then ran around the block to his neighbor’s front door and started banging. A mother and two children were inside and had no idea the attic was on fire. They were able to get out thanks to Cayden’s work.

The softspoken Person, who plays for the freshman football team, was honored to be recognized.

“This feels good,” said Person, who found out two weeks ago about the proclamation. “I was nervous that morning, but I didn’t really have time to think about anything. This makes me feel like I’m appreciated, that I know people care about me. The mayor coming out to give me this was special.”

Smith also spoke to the team and stressed how student’s like Cayden represent the kind of culture the district has.

“What you do day in, day out for your teammates creates a cohesive unit,” Smith said. “What you do off the field creates a cohesive community. You’re taking care of each other, too. Cayden had a choice that day. He had a choice to ignore something. He had a choice not to run down the street barefoot and let people know. But he made the choice to do that because it matters to the community.”