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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Student-Athletes Participate In ''Reading With The Rebels'' Program
9/30/2003 | Football
By Shea Stewart
Special From The Oxford Eagle
Sept. 30, 2003
Four-year-old Jujuan Brown could have cared less that the two giants reading to him and his classmates excel at knocking 290-pound defensive linemen on their backs.
Hands on his face and eyes wide open, all he cared about was what happens when you give a moose a muffin.
The junior kindergarten student at Oxford University School and his nine classmates all sat still as statues as University of Mississippi sophomore offensive tackle Bobby Harris and junior offensive guard Broderick Jones took turns reading to them as part of "Reading With the Rebels."
Harris and Jones were two of the almost 20 Rebel student-athletes who spent Wednesday and Thursday reading to OUS students and answering questions.
The reading is part of CHAMPS/Life Skills, a program initiated by the NCAA Foundation in 1991 to create a total development program for student-athletes.
According to the mission statement, Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success develops and enhances the life of the student-athlete through educational programs and resources focusing on gender equity, student-athlete welfare and life skills.
The Ole Miss student-athletes volunteer for the reading on their own time and get in return only the satisfaction of giving back to their adopted community.
For Harris, who read at OUS and Oxford Elementary School last year, making the children happy is enough.
"I enjoy seeing the kids smiling and stuff," said Harris, who read Laura Joffe Numeroff's "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" to a captivated audience. "It is something I wish I had when I was in elementary school."
As Jones sat on the floor and read "Once There Was a Bull ... frog" by Rick Walton, junior kindergarten teacher Frances Pierce and assistant teacher Julie Overstreet both smiled and giggled along with the children.
"I think it is great," Pierce said. "It is good interaction between the university and the schools. The children really enjoy it."
But football players weren't the only athletes getting an opportunity to share their time with the children.
Women's golfer Jade Polonich, softball player Jenny Cox, men's basketball players Marvin Moore and Chris Rhodes, and baseball players Mark Holliman, Eric Fowler, Matt Tolbert, Anthony Cupps and Eric Fowler were just a handful of the Ole Miss student-athletes volunteering their time.
Both Fowler and Cupps took turns reading "So You Want to Be President?" by Judith St. George to fifth- and sixth-graders.
"It is a big deal to the kids," Cupps said. "We get to spend time with them and read to them and they really enjoy it. It is like Coach (Mike) Bianco says, 'It means a lot to them.'"
"Reading With the Rebels" is an excellent opportunity to show the students how important they are, said first-year OUS headmaster Don B. Shaver.
"We try to share with the students that they are special," he said. "These guys are all heroes to the children. It is a thrill for the kids and means so much to them."
Besides the storytelling, the program also allows the students to ask questions to the student-athletes, Shaver said.
"Jade (Polonich) is from Calgary, Alberta, so she shared with them about Canada and the culture there," he said. "It is good for the athlete also. They were all super."
Both Harris and Jones also learned a valuable lesson - if you give a moose a muffin he is going to ask for jam. - Shea Stewart can be reached at shea@oxfordeagle.com
