BATON ROUGE – After the recent Read Across Louisiana event, several student-athletes participated in Read Across America events over the weekend in celebration of the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day on March 2.
To kick off the event, junior linebacker Jarrett Hardnett read to four and five-year-olds at the Charlie Thomas Memorial Head Start Center last Thursday where he read the Cat in the Hat and The Cat in the Hat Part II. To show their appreciation, the students made a paper “Cat in the Hat” hat for him to wear while he read.
“I enjoyed hearing the kids relate their lives at home to the kids in the book, and what they would do if the Cat in the Hat knocked on their door,” Hardnett said. “It was a fun morning, and I enjoyed getting into character with my hat that they made for me.”
Hardnett also visited Buchanan Elementary School with teammate Cleveland Davis and swimmer Kaelee Mader and Chancellor Mike Martin last Friday to read to students. Davis assisted in cooking green eggs and ham for his class.
Baseball’s Austin Nola read to students at The Dunham School, while Track & Field’s Brandon Gordon visited Winbourne Elementary School last Friday, where a welcoming assembly was held for him with guest speaker District Attorney Hillar Moore.
“It is always fun to visit and help out the younger kids because they remind you of yourself,” Gordon said. “It’s always a very humbling experience. They make you realize how fortunate you are to be where you are and to have the opportunities that you have.”