Basketball players volunteer time
Kali Bhandari
The Daily Illini
If anyone needed a hint as to who was reading to Izona Burgess' fourth-graders Friday, he could hazard a guess after looking at the children's clothing — all orange and blue — or at the dozens of basketball team posters everywhere.
As a part of Black History Month, Illini basketball players read and spoke to Burgess' class at Booker T. Washington School in Champaign. The players' visit was part of a week-long program organized by Burgess for community members to speak to her class.
"The purpose of this program is to motivate and enlighten my students," she said. "It's always exciting for students to receive visitors to the classroom and hear information from adults other than the classroom teacher."
Each reader chooses a book about a black person or shares a personal experience with the class. At the end of each reading, the book is donated to the class library.
One of the basketball posters in the classroom reads, "Youth is no excuse." But for Illini basketball players Deron Williams and Jerrance Howard, youth was an excuse to take time out from school and basketball Friday.
As the students sat attentively, Williams and Howard introduced themselves and read Satchel Paige and Wilma Unlimited. Both players kept the children's attention by asking occasional questions related to the books.
Ten-year-old Ronald Roark stated, with a nod of his head, "It was good."
Nine-year-old Carrie Murray elaborated.
"It was good 'cause I got to meet the Illini basketball players," she said.
After the readings, the class presented the players with Hershey's chocolates and Dasani water as a thank-you present. Burgess said the class chose Hershey products because Milton Hershey "was a man who donated to charity."
After receiving the gifts, the players signed 24 posters and took pictures for the class. Each child also received two passes to the next Michigan State game. As players signed autographs, an announcement came over the school's public announcement system: "Would the players please autograph a poster for the principal's office?"
"It's always good to contribute," Howard said. "I remember when I was a little kid, it was always a great thing to have people coming in and visiting us. I feel great having done it. It feels good to have kids smiling at you, knowing who you are."
Williams also said he enjoyed visiting the class.
"It's good to give back, and I feel great that I did it," he said.
The emphasis was on black people and their achievements, and Burgess explained that, "We're studying immigrants currently, and we've recognized as a class that African Americans were the only group brought here by force, and the books are mostly about obstacles that are overcome."
Nine-year-old Laura Orozoco said she enjoyed learning about Black History Month.
"I think it was nice because it shows the parts about African American that didn't get put in history books, and after all they've done, it shows that you can never give up, that even when you're a kid you always have a chance to do something," she said.
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