Hard work paid off for 18 fifth-grade students from Sunflower Intermediate School, when students and their teachers spent a Saturday with members of the Seward County Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams and coaches. The Sunflower students had to earn their way to participate by answering 1,000 reading, grammar, and math questions correctly on the program Mobymax during the month of January.

Students who qualified met Saints players at the dorm basketball courts Saturday afternoon, where they ran through different drills and worked on lay-ups and ball-handling. The students then played several games agains the SCCC players, such as Knock-out. To cap the afternoon off, students were provided pizza and T-shirts.

The men and women of the basketball teams were willing to help and interact with the students. Lady Saint Erin Richardson said the activity “was really cool. The students learned that when they work hard and achieve something, they can have fun with it.” For Richardson, the activity confirmed her chosen vocation.
“School is supposed to be fun,” she said, “and that’s why I want to become a teacher.”

At the end of the day, Saints player Martavious Wilson said he, too, enjoyed the time with students, “showing them how to dribble, and the moves they can use when they get bigger, to keep improving on skills,” he said. “The skills will get you a long way. You can go to any college you want to if you continue playing basketball at this level.”

Teachers and students wrapped up the day by watching a victory in both the men’s and women’s basketball games. The students were able to sit behind the players, get autographed posters, and participate in the halftime show.

“Special thank you to Coach Wynn, Coach Zollinger, and Roy Allen for getting this together for us,” teachers Bristol Bale, Andrew Potter, Ruth Caley, and Lisa Foster wrote in a thank-you letter. “The outpouring of hospitality shown toward us, along with their amazing commitment to the community proves how important school is to these coaches, and they made sure that our students understood the importance as well.”

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