Thirteen student-athletes from Illinois State took time out of their busy schedules to participate in the State Farm/Missouri Valley Conference "Just Read" program Thursday morning at Fairview Elementary in Normal.
"This has been such an excellent program for our children," said Lynette Mehall, principal at Fairview Elementary. "Many of our children are at-risk students and dont always see the future, but by having the athletes from Illinois State read and talk to them, it provides them with some role models. That type of influence goes beyond the teachers and even the classroom, because the kids talk and stay excited about it all day."
Redbird student-athletes participating in the program included: Kevin Kreger, Sesamir Yearby, Niall Campbell, Alex Filin, Michael Heffernan, Tyler Larrick, and Jim Ferguson from the football team; Denise Houda and Lisa Klein from the gymnastics team; Jake Blair and Jay Molina from baseball; Melissa Colthrust from soccer and Pierre Woods from the track and field team.
The goal of the program is to promote the importance of reading at an early age to stimulate educational growth, while utilizing Missouri Valley Conference athletes as positive role models.
