NEWBERRY — A group of 33 Newberry student-athletes and Scar recently visited elementary schools to read to local students as part of the National Education Association’s Read Across America.
Students at Prosperity-Rikard and Little Mountain Elementary Schools welcomed 30 football players, three cheerleaders, and the Wolves’ mascot on March 2. The NEA created the event, first conducted in 1998, to celebrate reading and motivate children to engage in reading and thus increase student achievement.
Read Across America is celebrated annually on the birthday of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.
“The athletes helped to instill a love for reading with the students as they read to the classrooms and helped students pick out a special book of their own to take home,” said Prosperity-Rikard principal Timothy Lyden. “Having Scar visit the classrooms is always a special treat to have a real celebrity in our midst.”
Cheerleader Copeland Brown, an Elementary Education major, enjoyed seeing the students’ faces light up when the Newberry student-athletes walked into the room.
“I also loved how every student in the school got to pick out a book for their own collection,” he said. “I love seeing kids get the chance to start their own library. I loved sharing my love of reading and showing students that as busy as student athletes are there is always time to read and enjoy a good book.”
Newberry has participated in Read Across America for several years. Student-athletes spend time in the classroom reading to and interacting with groups of children, demonstrating to them the importance of reading and academic persistence. They also answered questions from the elementary school students.
“As soon as you walk in, the kids light up,” said defensive back Kardeem Hines. “They want to give you a handshake and ask you a million questions.”
“It’s important to do work in the community because a lot of these kids look up to people like us. They feel like we’re superstars; even if we may not feel like that, they make us feel like superstars. And we hope that by reading to them we can help inspire them to work hard in school.”
“It’s our honor and privilege to be able to go out and give a little something back to our community in Newberry County,” said Assistant Head Coach Stephen Flynn. “The kids and the people here that support our athletic programs know and respect and appreciate what we do on the field, so any time we can go back and stress the importance of academics and education to these younger kids is always a positive for us.”
“What it means to those kids and the teachers for the athletes to come in is amazing. It’s a win-win situation because our players get to see what it means to them.”