MSCTC football players visit elementary class

By Lauren Radomski (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Wednesday, October 3, 2007

JoEllen Johnson’s second graders welcomed four visitors to their classroom Tuesday morning: jersey-clad football players from MSCTC-Fergus Falls with books in tow. Each player read to a captivated handful of students, audiences enthralled by both the stories and their tellers.

Johnson’s visitors are among the MSCTC football players reading to district elementary schoolers throughout the month of October, an effort to both involve college students in community life and encourage a love of reading in younger generations.

“You can really see they connect with the students,” MSCTC head football coach Steve King said of his players. “It’s just outstanding.”

Inspired by similar volunteer initiatives by other sports teams, King came up with the idea this year, contacting Jessica Aguilar at the college and Peg Kalar with the school district about setting up a schedule. Football players visited classrooms for the first time last Thursday, with bi-weekly visits scheduled for the rest of the month.

Johnson said students’ admiration for the football players plays a big part in what they take from the reading sessions.

“The students benefit by having reading modeled for them and by seeing the big football players enjoying reading,” she said.

The partnership between the college and the district, Johnson said, benefits the older students, too.

“It’s good for the players to see that children are looking up to them as role models,” she said, “and to realize that along with that comes an awesome responsibility to be good role models for the kids.”