“Mr. Davis got excited about it right away,” said Reese. “Once we got in the building that was a key, the girls getting excited about it every day. They still are staying in contact with all the kids.”
After awhile of just helping out, the team got an idea that really made the project click.
“We started out just asking teachers if they wanted help,” said Reese. “After we got going my wife (and assistant coach Ingrid Reese) came up with the idea of adopting a class and we decided that was the way to go.”
The idea was a scary one for some of the team at first. It didn’t take long for that to change.
“I didn’t really like kids. I’ll be honest,” said Brittany Safranek, a graduate of Peru High School. “But this changed my mind. The whole class grew on me. We’re still keeping in contact, sending them letters. The way they greeted me, they would all yell when I came in and I don’t know, it warmed my heart.”
One student in particular may have swayed Safranek’s thinking.
“Riley was a character,” she said with a smile. “He always greeted me with a warm hello. I think it was just a bonding.”
A team mate also had her mind changed in the process.
“I was originally an elementary education major and then I changed my mind,” said Crystal Ingram of Cambridge City High School. “This changed my mind again. I had first graders and just helping them, one girl in particular was falling behind in math and I helped her catch up. It made me feel good. It made me feel good to help somebody else.”
The team enthusiastically endorses the idea of continuing the project.
“We plan to start earlier next year,” said Reese. “Right after our fall season, probably October.”