Swoopes, Wright Stress the Importance of Reading
Aaron Last/Storm Photos
Ashlee Folsom, storm.wnba.com
BELLEVUE -- Since 1996, the Read to Achieve educational initiative has reached out to thousands of children all across the country. In conjunction with the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, the Seattle Storm connected with 86 more students last week as the team tipped-off its 2008 Seattle Storm Read to Achieve program, sponsored by Starbucks Coffee.
Storm forward Sheryl Swoopes and guard Tanisha Wright visited Cherry Crest Elementary in Bellevue to host the first Reading Time-Out to promote the value of reading and encourage families and adults to read regularly with young children.
“I try to read to my son every night. Not only is it good for him but it’s also good for me because sometimes I don’t have the time or I don’t make the time to just sit down and read a book,” said Swoopes, spokesperson for the 2008 program. “To be able to sit down with him and read to him and then discuss it and enjoy it, I think it just really keeps feeding his mind.”
Cherry Crest students had colored in letters that read “Welcome Seattle Storm” and “The Perfect Storm” to greet the two players and front-office staff in the library, showing their excitement of the event.
“The kids really enjoy their books. Anything we can do to inspire them for basketball and for reading is icing on the cake and this is a wonderful way to reach out to the girls to see the professional women,” said Cherry Crest librarian Joanne Furgason.
Students piled into the library and with help from Swoopes’ 10-year-old son Jordan, the Storm players showed teamwork in reading Salt In His Shoes by Deloris Jordan, a book about Michael Jordan in pursuit of a dream.
“As a child I never really had an opportunity like a lot of these kids have. To have adults or to have people come into my school or sometimes even at home because my mom was so busy that sometimes I didn’t have that time or that interaction with her. To be able to come here and show the kids how important it is to read and how much we care that they understand the importance of it. I think we also get a lot out of it just like the kids do,” Swoopes said.
Afterwards Wright, spokesperson for the 2007 campaign, and Swoopes asked questions about the book as well as Storm trivia with WNBA Cares T-shirts as prizes. Fourth grader Alex said he learned to “never stop trying.” When asked to name another Storm player, Max proudly said “Sheryl Swoopes,” a response that Sheryl and everyone else in the library got a kick out of.
“I love this atmosphere, I love everything about it just being around the kids and interacting with them,” Wright said.
All the students who participated were given a schedule poster branded Read to Achieve, a new story book, and a Storm pencil to fill out their reading charts. Starting the first of July, when students complete 20 minutes a day for 20 days of reading in the month, they will receive two free tickets to a Storm game.
“For a lot of kids, it’s not stressed enough so they think it’s boring or it’s going to take a long time but as Tanisha said if you just read 20 minutes a day, 20 minutes a night you can learn a lot and it helps your mind, it helps your body and you feel good,” Swoopes said.
The Time-Out culminated in everyone standing to their feet and reaffirming their commitment to reading by reciting the Read to Achieve pledge with the guidance of Wright.
“They see us as these big, big superstars but we’re just like them. We read whether it’s newspapers or magazines or whatever it is, we get out there and we read as well so I think it’s a great thing that we can come back here and give back and let them see us in a different light.”
