Indiana University Athletics
IU Athletics Participate In Read Across America
3/8/2016 10:27:00 AM | Student-Athlete Services
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
Last week, 74 student athletes across 12 Indiana teams traveled to local schools in conjunction with Read Across America. The athletes spent time with reading short stories to classrooms, promoting literacy and answering any questions the children could come up with.
"Going into the schools and seeing how those kids' faces when we walked in and how excited they got, that was cool," junior men's soccer player Tanner Thompson said. "I really enjoyed it."
Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program founded by the National Education Association (NEA). Classrooms across the United States have participated in the event since 1998 during the week of March 2, the birthday of children's author Dr. Seuss.
The NEA hopes inviting role models like IU student-athletes into the classroom to spend time reading with children will promote literacy and inspire young students to read and aspire to have success in the classroom.
"It's rewarding because being here, we don't always get to interact with children very often," senior track athlete Brianna Johnson said. "It was fun being a positive influence in their life and just kind of getting out of the daily routine and be a part of the community."
Freshman soccer player Caroline Dreher, who was reading to students at Templeton Elementary School, was joined by fellow freshman Abby Allen in reading mostly Dr. Seuss stories to classrooms ranging from preschool to second grade.
"It was especially cool that kids, especially girls, could see us and go, 'Oh, I could go to college and play soccer,'" Dreher said. She added that the question and answer session was one of the most fun parts of the trip because she got to hear from the kids who were both nervous and excited to have the athletes in the classroom.
When Dreher explained she was a soccer player at IU, one of the elementary students said he was, too.
"He was convincing us," Dreher said. "It was cute."
Junior soccer player Veronica Ellis had a similar experience at Highland Park Elementary where she joined Thompson in reading to students as young as preschoolers and as old as fourth graders.
Ellis said some of the kids were shy at first but opened up with time. The athletes asked the children to talk about themselves or share things like their favorite food or color in between reading stories.
"A lot of the little girls, especially in the preschool, would cover their eyes," Ellis said. "They were just fun to be around."
The Hoosiers' participating in Read Across America is only part of the Athletic Department's effort to provide a positive influence in the Bloomington community and surrounding areas.
Through the Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers program of community engagement and service learning, IU Athletes have and will continue to participate in similar programs throughout the year.
"Even just telling the kids to come out to a game to get more connected with us was fun," Ellis said. "It was nice to be able to be a part of it."
Last week, 74 student athletes across 12 Indiana teams traveled to local schools in conjunction with Read Across America. The athletes spent time with reading short stories to classrooms, promoting literacy and answering any questions the children could come up with.
"Going into the schools and seeing how those kids' faces when we walked in and how excited they got, that was cool," junior men's soccer player Tanner Thompson said. "I really enjoyed it."
Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program founded by the National Education Association (NEA). Classrooms across the United States have participated in the event since 1998 during the week of March 2, the birthday of children's author Dr. Seuss.
The NEA hopes inviting role models like IU student-athletes into the classroom to spend time reading with children will promote literacy and inspire young students to read and aspire to have success in the classroom.
"It's rewarding because being here, we don't always get to interact with children very often," senior track athlete Brianna Johnson said. "It was fun being a positive influence in their life and just kind of getting out of the daily routine and be a part of the community."
Freshman soccer player Caroline Dreher, who was reading to students at Templeton Elementary School, was joined by fellow freshman Abby Allen in reading mostly Dr. Seuss stories to classrooms ranging from preschool to second grade.
"It was especially cool that kids, especially girls, could see us and go, 'Oh, I could go to college and play soccer,'" Dreher said. She added that the question and answer session was one of the most fun parts of the trip because she got to hear from the kids who were both nervous and excited to have the athletes in the classroom.
When Dreher explained she was a soccer player at IU, one of the elementary students said he was, too.
"He was convincing us," Dreher said. "It was cute."
Junior soccer player Veronica Ellis had a similar experience at Highland Park Elementary where she joined Thompson in reading to students as young as preschoolers and as old as fourth graders.
Ellis said some of the kids were shy at first but opened up with time. The athletes asked the children to talk about themselves or share things like their favorite food or color in between reading stories.
"A lot of the little girls, especially in the preschool, would cover their eyes," Ellis said. "They were just fun to be around."
The Hoosiers' participating in Read Across America is only part of the Athletic Department's effort to provide a positive influence in the Bloomington community and surrounding areas.
Through the Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers program of community engagement and service learning, IU Athletes have and will continue to participate in similar programs throughout the year.
"Even just telling the kids to come out to a game to get more connected with us was fun," Ellis said. "It was nice to be able to be a part of it."
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