The NCAA and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis athletics welcomed 3,800 Indianapolis third graders to a Readers Become Leaders basketball game this week, where they stressed the importance of reading.
The NCAA Readers Become Leaders program encourages students to increase their reading, which lays a foundation for future educational goals, such as attending college. The program also aims to help teachers dealing with a literacy crisis that affects all demographics, as data has shown that if reading is below level by the fourth grade, students are more likely to drop out of school later.
In addition to watching the basketball game between IUPUI and Spalding, students received new books purchased by the NCAA from Scholastic Corp. Team and educational mascots were also in attendance to welcome the students and their teachers. Video messaging was played before the game, during timeouts and at halftime featuring IUPUI student-athletes reading to children and talking about why they like to read. There were additional video messages from celebrities, the Indianapolis Public Library and WISH-TV that stressed the benefits of reading. The NCAA also has partnered with WISH-TV as a title sponsor of the station's "I Love to Read" competition, which will launch in January.
"It was an amazing game day atmosphere!" said Felicia Martin, NCAA senior vice president of inclusion, education and community engagement. "We are proud of each and every student who has participated in the reading competition and who has grown from the Readers Become Leaders program. We are incredibly grateful to IUPUI athletics for an amazing partnership. We appreciate the schools and districts for their dedication and commitment to Readers Become Leaders."
"It is important to support our local school district partners by providing students with incentives to start a love for reading at this early and critical age in their educational development," said Victor Hill, NCAA associate director of inclusion, education and community engagement. "With more than 3,800 people in attendance, we were elated at the turnout for the Readers Become Leaders matinee game. This was our largest attendance by participating schools since we began the program."Â Â
IUPUI and the NCAA partnered with Indianapolis school districts from Irvington, Lawrence Township, Pike Township and Warren Township, which brought students to the game as a field trip. Also invited to the game were students from Albany Elementary School, St. Lawrence Catholic School, St. John Lutheran School, Stephen Decatur Elementary School, and Stonybrook Intermediate and Middle School.
