IC student-athletes donate time to read to area kids
Illinois College athletics took part in the SAAC Reads program, a Midwest Conference initiative that ran from April 9-13 in school throughout Jacksonville.
In the SAAC Reads program, groups of two or three student-athletes go to local elementary schools to read to children for 30 minutes. The Blueboys and Lady Blues spent time at seven local schools – Bright Beginnings Day Care, Central Office, Eisenhower, First Presbyterian Day Care, Lincoln, Salem Lutheran and Washington – and read in 24 classrooms to a total of 467 children ranging from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade.
Thirty-eight student-athletes and two head coaches participated in the program from Illinois College and at the end of the initiative, 442 schoolchildren received books thanks to community partners Imagine Foundation and Beckham's Bookshelf. Members of the IC baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, and track & field teams all participated.