Five student-athletes from the Illinois State womens basketball and track and field teams visited kindergarten through fourth grade students at Eugene Field Elementary in Normal, Thursday morning, as part of the State Farm/Missouri Valley Conference Just Read program.
You could tell by all the waves and high-fives the athletes received as they walked into the school that the kids were excited to see them, said Brianne Rucks, graduate assistant for the Karin R. Bone Athletics Study Center. They were full of questions, asking the athletes everything from what their favorite book was to what subject they were majoring in. It was a really neat experience.
Student-athletes participating in Thursdays program included: Pierre Woods, Tori Gaumer and Ashley Minner from the track and field team and Stacey White and Michelle Harakas from womens basketball. The student-athletes read books, conveyed the importance of reading and answered questions to the children present at the program.
The primary goal of the "Just Read" program is to promote the importance of reading at an early age to stimulate educational growth while utilizing Missouri Valley Conference student-athletes as positive role models. The "Just Read" program is a community outreach effort between the Missouri Valley Conference, its member schools and student-athletes, and the State Farm Insurance Company and its agents.
