Although the football team has been having a successful season, the field isn’t the only place they’re making an impact. Football players are teaming up with first graders at Catoctin Elementary School to help develop their reading skills and provide mentorship to the younger students through a program called Readers as Leaders.
Over two dozen first graders will meet with the football players twice a week for thirty minutes before school in Catoctin’s cafeteria. Each first grader will be paired with two football players to work with throughout the program, which will last about six weeks during football season. During that time, they’ll read books at their level, work on sight words and letter identification, and engage in other reading activities. The first graders will also receive free books as part of the program.
“[The football players will be] kind of meeting them where they are,” reading specialist Valerie Rife said. “We’re looking for students that would need a mentor and maybe are struggling in reading.”
Beyond developing reading skills, Readers as Leaders is an opportunity for the football players to be mentors for the first graders. “The whole thing is that during the season, [the football players] are giving back to the community,” Rife said. “I think it’s amazing because some kids may not have a mentor in their life, so this is good for the first graders, but it’s also great for the football players because they are being a leader and learning how to communicate, learning how to interact with young kids.”
To continue “building community and building the link between elementary and high,” there will be opportunities for the players and students to spend time together outside of their reading sessions. “We’re planning some culminating activities to couple along with it,” Rife said. The first graders will be invited to a home game this season, where they will get to run through the tunnel the team uses to make their entrance at the start of each game. Rife is also hoping to organize a team dinner for the players and students to eat together and continue building their relationships.
“It’s a wonderful union and kind of fun for the first graders because they get to be friends with a high schooler,” Rife said. “We’ve got some amazing football players. I’m not talking athletes, I’m talking people. I know them and I’m excited to see these relationships bud and grow.”
The Readers as Leaders program is new to both the football team and first graders this year. Rife has partnered with Valerie Lacy, the reading specialist at Catoctin, to facilitate the program. “I’d say the last two years we’ve been trying to make it happen,” Rife said. Pandemic restrictions stood in the way of getting things up and running sooner, but “this year, we’re ready to go,” Rife said.
Although this is new to football and Catoctin, other sports teams and schools have successfully run this program in the past, including County’s soccer and baseball teams, in partnership with Frederick Douglass Elementary School. Rife has also led the program previously in her time working at Tuscarora High School, where their football players worked with students from Frances Hazel Reid Elementary School. “We tried it there and it was such a big success.”
Rife hopes to expand the program to other sports teams at County so that it runs year-round. “My goal is that we have all three seasons coupled.” She has eyes set on basketball next, and plans to approach a coach to figure out how to get that team involved as well. In addition to involving other sports teams, Rife hopes other schools in the county will be inspired to start similar programs.
Both the football players and first grade students were surveyed prior to the start of the program to get an idea of “where everyone is coming from,” Rife said. The questions asked of the football players focused on their community involvement, while those asked of the first graders focused on how much they enjoy reading and learning. The survey will be given again at the end of the program, and Rife is hopeful that the responses will demonstrate growth in both groups.
Rife also expressed enthusiasm for the opportunity for the football players to have an impact on their community, as well as build a foundation to continue doing so. “I’m glad that this is happening now and that the kids can give back,” Rife said. “It will hopefully encourage them to do community service, giving back, whatever that looks like, whether it’s in education or coaching or athletics, whatever they want to do, or just in their own community in life. It’s a great stepping stone for that, because it’s all structured for them, all they have to do is go forward.”
Rife acknowledged that there will inevitably be a few logistics still to be worked out, but that she remains confident and excited about the program. “The preplanning and now, the first year, is always the most chaotic and there’s going to be bumps in the road,” Rife said. “But once we get the plates spinning, it’s just going to be super great.”
