The NCAA partnered with the Indiana University Indianapolis and Butler athletics departments to host the NCAA Readers Become Leaders literacy program, which encourages local elementary students to keep reading books.
The NCAA Readers Become Leaders program, which began in 2016, lays a foundation to motivate young students to read more in school and at home. The program also helps students focus on future goals, such as getting good grades so they can possibly attend college. In addition, the program helps teachers with the literacy crisis that impacts all demographics. Data has shown that if students are not reading at a satisfactory level by fourth grade, they are more likely to drop out of school later.
Readers Become Leaders pep rallies include special video greetings from NCAA President Charlie Baker and other national office staff; targeted messaging tailored to youth at halftime and timeouts; interactions with student-athletes, mascots and spirit teams; and discussions around the importance of reading.
IU Indy welcomed more than 3,000 Indianapolis area elementary students to the Indiana State Fairgrounds for its Readers Become Leaders pep rally and the IU Indy men's basketball team's 100-44 victory over IU Columbus in the Nov. 4 matinee game. Butler welcomed more than 2,000 Indianapolis area elementary students to its Readers Become Leaders pep rally Wednesday at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, where the children saw the Butler women's basketball team beat Chicago State, 87-45, in a matinee game.
"The NCAA is proud to provide the Readers Become Leaders program and support all the local reading initiatives to improve youth literacy," said Felicia Martin, NCAA senior vice president of inclusion, education and community engagement. "Third grade reading is a critical milestone in young students' education. Academic success is a core value of the NCAA, and we are thrilled to partner with schools and parents to find fun, exciting ways to encourage young students to read.
"The NCAA is committed to offering Readers Become Leaders; however, the success of Readers Become Leaders is because of the collaborative spirit of educators. We are grateful for the many principals, teachers, superintendents and school librarians who are facilitating and managing Readers Become Leaders at their respective schools," Martin said.
In addition to NCAA and athletics administrators at the game, student-athletes also recognized the importance of supporting the initiative.
"The kids game is such a special way to be able to connect with kids in our community to get them engaged in reading and women's basketball," said Butler women's basketball sophomore Riley Makalusky."I love hearing them cheer and have fun in the stands. It is such a special game each year. Interacting with these kids and giving back to the community in general is really important to our whole team."
IU Indy junior women's soccer athlete Sarah Henson volunteered to help at the IU Indianapolis basketball game.
"Having that many kids in the stands brought so much excitement and energy to the coliseum," Henson said. "From the second the kids walked in, they were cheering for the Jags and couldn't stop talking about how excited they were to watch the game. I think reading is important for everyone to be doing on a normal basis, especially kids. It provides a good framework of knowledge for them and is a very healthy habit to have."