MBB Promotes Reading Program
11/27/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LODI, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team participated in the NABC's national program, "Ticket To Reading Rewards," Tuesday at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Lodi, New Jersey.
Patrik Auda (Brno, Czech Republic) and Kyle Smyth (River Edge, N.J.) took time away from their busy class and practice schedules to visit the middle school and speak to their students about "Ticket To Reading Awards," a reading incentive program that encourages middle school students to read books outside the classroom and obtain rewards for reading. Spearheading the program on Seton Hall's side was director of basketball operations Stephen Sauers, who also attended and took part in the presentation.
"It was a nice opportunity to get off campus and talk to some children about a very interesting program," Auda said. "Reading is very important for the educational development of young kids. We hope we spurred some interest today."
The Ticket To Reading Rewards program was founded in 2002 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Foundation. Over the life of the program, students have read an estimated 4,000,000 books, obtained nearly 1,000,000 rewards and attended 125,000 local men's and women's NCAA basketball games--all at no cost to schools or students.
Students are encouraged to read to obtain predetermined rewards for participating and for reading 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 books-with each student able to receive all six rewards. Rewards have included subscriptions to Sports Illustrated for Kids, miniature basketball hoops, medals, trophies, basketballs autographed by NCAA coaches, books and gift certificates. The top reader in each school receives special recognition, and schools compete against each other for a coveted award. All prizes are provided free of charge to the student and school through the generosity of the sponsors and donors of the NABC Foundation.
"As college athletes, we are very fortunate to receive a good education," Smyth said. "It is important that we give back to our local communities by spreading the word about worthy programs such as this. If we can motivate one extra kid to start reading and take a serious look at college, we've done our job."
The NABC Foundation provides free tickets to local college games or practices to all students who enter the program. Teachers often remark that having Middle School students visit a local college campus and visualize themselves attending the college can be the single most important element of our program. This year Ticket To Reading Rewards has set a goal of distributing 50,000 tickets to the program's participants.
For more information on Ticket to Reading Rewards, please visit their website: www.tickettoreadingrewards.org.
