Tar Heels Read For The Record
Oct. 16, 2009
by Turner Walston During the week, the fifth floor of the Kenan Football Center is typically used for Tar Heel player press conferences. A captive audience hanging on their every word surrounds the players, and questions are interjected from all sides. That was the scene Thursday, Oct. 8, although the subject matter was a little different. On that day, members of the Carolina football team participated in Jumpstart's Read for the Record campaign. The program is designed to encourage reading, with hundreds of thousands of participants reading the same book on the same day. This year, it was Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. But that captive audience wasn't comprised of media members. It was a much more enchanted group: five- and six-year-old members of the Chapel Hill Titans youth football team, coached by former Tar Heel Errol Hood. About 25 members of the team got to see part of a Tar Heels practice. They then received a tour of the football facilities, which culminated in the reading session. Four groups of three Tar Heels each read the book to small groups of Titans.
Both awestruck and bold, the Titans eagerly responded to the Tar Heel players when called upon, and the Carolina players themselves did a good job of engaging with their audience. In the book, a caterpillar with a - you guessed it - voracious appetite eats his way through the days of the week. Monday through Friday, he devours an increasing number of foods. Thursday, four strawberries are on the menu. "Everybody likes strawberries, right?" Kennedy Tinsley asked. "I do," one Titan replied. "I like chicken, too." On Saturday, the caterpillar enjoys his biggest feast of all, including chocolate cake, ice cream, salami, sausage, a pickle, watermelon and swiss cheese. "You know what happened after that?" Deunta Williams asked the Titans. "He got a stomachache." After what must have been a battle with indigestion, the caterpillar settles in for a nap in a cocoon. Next, well . . . you'll just have to read the book. Following the reading, each Titan received a copy of the book, autographed by Butch Davis and the 2009 Tar Heels. The books were purchased after players donated part of their meal money. Carolina's participation in Read for the Record was part of an attempt to break the 2008 record of 700,000 people reading the book. Jumpstart is a nonprofit organization striving to build language, literacy, social and emotional skills in preschool children. Hood said his Titans cherished the experience. "We've been doing this (visiting Kenan Stadium) for three years, and the kids were so excited about it. The players don't understand how big of an impact they've made on these kids' lives." Three times weekly, Hood drives from Richmond County to coach the team. He said several of his players once had loyalties to other schools. "Now, they're all Tar Heel fans," he said. "Coming in, they were Duke, State . . . Now, forget that, `I'm a Tar Heel.'" When his players get to see where he spent his college career, Hood said it gives them a whole new perspective. "They're like, `Whoa, you're one of them,'" he said. "It makes me feel good, knowing that the program can give back to the community, and it makes the program look good in the eyes of Chapel Hill. It helps me with recruiting the players, because parents are going to tell other parents, but the main thing is, they get the experience." Carolina players enjoyed spending time with the children. "It feels really good, to be on the opposite end," said Tar Heel linebacker Alex Crisp. "You used to be one of those kids looking up to the players and now you're one of the players and you can give back to the community. It's a good feeling, being able to give back." Crisp said one could say that the caterpillar's story could mirror the Tar Heels' own. "We're in a cocoon right now, some people might say," he said. "Maybe a butterfly will come." |
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