Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Beasley, Kent read Seuss to local 5th graders
By Eric Davis
Kansas State Collegian (Kansas State U.)
03/04/2008

(U-WIRE) MANHATTAN, Kan. — Mrs. Miller's fifth grade class might not forget Dr. Seuss' birthday ever again, thanks in part to the Kansas State men's basketball team.

Freshman Michael Beasley and Junior Darren Kent stopped by Bluemont Elementary on Monday to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday and hang out with students.

The class, which included Beasley's younger brother, Malik Smith, was not surprised when Beasley and Kent walked in. Smith tipped the class off earlier, but that did not stop looks of awe and wonder from greeting the players when they entered the room.

"We want to get involved in younger kids' lives," Kent said. "We know that the young community is involved in coming to our games and supporting the team. We wanted to give back and get involved in their lives."

Beasley, Kent and a student from the class took turns reading "Green Eggs and Ham." After the book was finished, the students asked the players questions about various topics, some of which included basketball.

"The players talked about things like working hard, being a team player," Kathy Stitt, principal of Bluemont Elementary said. "They did a fantastic job with the kids."

Stitt said they wanted to make the day special and have some local celebrities come in to talk to the class.

After the question-and-answer session was completed, the class went to the gym to participate in a shoot around.

"Each of the players shot 10 free throws, and the class did a math exercise with mean, median and mode," Stitt said.

In addition to the free-throw competition, Kent and Beasley had a dunk competition.

"We're just average guys, just basketball players, but when they look at you ... It's fun to hang out with them and talk with them for a while," Kent said.

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