In the Community
Field, court and classroom
“What the children are learning from the athletes is invaluable. They’re learning things that they don’t even realize they’re learning. … how to set goals, how to be determined, how to finish what you start, and how to excel in a variety of areas.”
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| Christina Flowers, women’s track athlete, and Ian Kawas, men’s tennis, who graduated in May 2006, competed in a game against the Lloyd Street School teachers and lost — to the delight of the school children. |
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Sit with me! The third-graders weren’t cheering for Shaquille O’Neal or Dwyane Wade; they were welcoming the Marquette student-athletes who came to help them master reading and mathematics. The athletes — from the volleyball, track, soccer, tennis and basketball teams — worked all year with 200 students at Lloyd Street Global Education School, a public elementary school near campus.
Even after Marquette’s spring semester ended, even after the residence halls closed for the summer, the athletes stayed in Milwaukee, slept on floors in friends’ apartments, just so they wouldn’t miss the school children’s special year-ending visit to Marquette.
In teacher Lisa Cords’ classroom, third-graders counted the days between the weekly visits. Some learned how to tell time by watching the clock for the magic hour — 10 a.m. — when the athletes would walk through the classroom door.
“They come and make me happy,” says Martiz, one of Cords’ students.
It’s exciting because they help us,” agrees classmate Antriawna.
Cords, Arts ’98, (daughter of Marquette Athletics Director Bill Cords), came up with the idea to team Marquette athletes with Lloyd students. Her timing was perfect: Tom Ford, Marquette’s associate athletics director, was searching for a way to give student-athletes a long-term volunteer opportunity.
School Principal Clavon Byrd, Sr., appreciated the commitment. “What the children are learning from the athletes is invaluable,” he says. “They’re learning things that they don’t even realize they’re learning. … how to set goals, how to be determined, how to finish what you start and how to excel in a variety of areas. They’re also learning — and I know Marquette is really big on this — they’re learning to give back.”
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