NEWBERRY COUNTY — Members of the Newberry College men’s basketball team are like superstars at Gallman Elementary School, thanks to a program developed by the school’s principal and the head basketball coach at the college.
Elizabeth Griffith was named principal at Gallman Elementary six years ago and Coach Dave Davis has been coaching at Newberry College for the last five. When Davis and his wife, Pam, moved to Newberry, she became a substitute teacher for Griffith and was eventually hired as a full-time teacher.
It was that conduit that led to the development of a program where members of the Newberry College men’s basketball team serve as mentors to the students at Gallman.
The initial idea came from Coach Davis, who approached Griffith to discuss ways the basketball team could help out. He feels that it is important to be involved.
“It is not OK to just stand by,” Coach Davis said. “You are going to live somewhere and wherever that is, it’s important for you to find a way to get involved.”
Griffith said she felt there were a lot of students who could use a good male role model in their lives.
“They need to know that you care,” Griffith said. “Many of them have constantly had people walk out of their lives. They don’t need anyone else to do that. So if you say you are going to be here for them, then you need to be here.”
The first year of the program wasn’t quite what Griffith hoped for. The team did some positive things, she said, but the students looked at it more like an opportunity to get some extra PE time.
“The players would take them out to shoot ball and run around and have fun, and it was good, but not quite where we wanted to go with it,” she said.
So Griffith and Coach Davis talked about ways they could improve the relationships the athletes were building with students. Griffith would meet with the team and talk about ways to get the kids to open up.
“Their trust has been broken before so I tell the team just be patient,” she said.
Davis and Griffith told the players they needed to show an interest in the students’ classwork and that has paid off: the students now show off how much they have learned plus the only way students are allowed to spend time with the players is if they take care of their classwork and behave appropriately.
“All of the students wanted to have a basketball player,” Griffith said. “They are so excited each year we do it. On the first day of school this year, students were running up asking if the basketball team was coming.”
Now, entire classrooms are getting to spend time with the players and the team has become an outlet for students. The teachers are becoming more involved as they are requesting each year to have a basketball player assigned to their classes.
“They look at you guys as NBA players,” Griffith said. “It makes it easier sometimes for them to listen to you all because you are their role models. They don’t have anyone to look up to. It’s not coming from a parent or teacher, but from a buddy and a friend.”
Davis said the players love being there to help out. He also raved about how hard Griffith works.
“She cares about those kids so much,” he said of Griffith. “She goes above and beyond, staying late hours, working early mornings. She treats those kids like they are hers. She loves those children and if you walk through those doors then you better love them too, not only those kids but her staff as well.”