Illinois State University student-athletes will be visiting Towanda Elementary School in Towanda on Thursday, April 14 to read to the elementary students as part of the State Farm/Missouri Valley Conferences community outreach program, Just Read!
The Redbirds will be reading to the elementary students from 10:45 to 11:30 a.m.
Thursdays program, in which the student-athletes will be participating in, will be rather different than the past Just Read! programs. Farmer and the Dell is the theme that Towanda Elementary School is incorporating for their Reading Day. Rather than the ISU student-athletes going into individual classrooms and only reading to certain classes they will be able to interact with the entire school.
Thursday will be a different experience for the student-athletes because Towanda is having a Reading Day for their students, said Assistant Athletics Director/Academic Life Skills Coordinator Jane Fulton. The student-athletes really seem to be excited about the trip and are looking forward to mixing in with the whole school and not just going into a few classrooms.
Student-athletes participating in the Just Read! program on Thursday include Jaci McCormack (womens basketball), Rafael Rice (football), Juan Salcido (football), Cameron Bateman (football), Monique Witkowski (swimming), Jim Sharfman (football), Pierre Rembert (football), Shanelle Richardson (gymnastics) and Jesse Caesar (football).
The Missouri Valley Conference started the Just Read! program in November, 1998. The program, which is co-sponsored by State Farm Insurance and the Missouri Valley Conference, has student-athletes visiting local elementary schools, reading books and relating the impact that reading has had on their lives. The program is very successful, and video segments from each Missouri Valley Conference visit are aired during the league's basketball television package.
For more information regarding Illinois State's visit to Towanda Elementary School or future visits, contact Jane Fulton at 309/438-2750. For more information regarding the "Just Read!" program, contact Jack R. Watkins -- 314/421-0339, ext. 327, or Sarah Weier -- 314/421-0339, ext. 318, of the Missouri Valley Conference.
