MSU Athletes Visit Central Elementary Anthony Greathouse TE 804 – Professional service project Spring 2009

The reasoning…  I wanted to get some Michigan State athletes who had to overcome hardships and struggles in life to get where they were  Central Elementary – Okemos’ most diverse school, mostly low-to-middle class  My Goal – These kids who do not come from great situations see that with hard work and dedication anyone can achieve their goals

What I had to do  I first contacted the Michigan State University Student Athlete Support Services and submitted an outreach request form.  After faxing in the form I received the go ahead from Angela Howard, the Director of S.A.S.S.  I chose to use athletes that I know, however, if you want they can find athletes for you to come in and talk to your class based on who is available.

The Student-Athletes Franklin Gomez (pictured) Franklin is a junior wrestler at Michigan State. He was a NCAA Division 1 National Champion this year, the first Spartan to do so since He is also a 2x Big Ten Champion. Gomez is native to Puerto Rico and he came to America as a junior in high school in hopes that he could use his wrestling ability get a college education. For the past 6 years of his life he has been away from his family, only seeing them once a year when he travels home. Franklin has to overcome being away from home and family as well as language barriers. Before coming to America he could not speak or communicate in English. Tim Hammer Tim is a senior on the wrestling team. Tim came to MSU as a walk-on and had to earn his spot on the team. He has since earned a scholarship along with 4 Varsity Letters. Tim is native of Wayne, MI a suburb south of Detroit and he will graduate next week, making him the first person in his family to get a college degree.

Prepping the kids  The 5 th grade classes at Central Elementary School combined for this activity and prior to the athletes coming I gave them a background on each of the athletes and had them prepare some questions they might like to ask them  I then prepared some questions of my own to ask and added in the student’s questions that I thought were appropriate and relevant

The Questions The 1 st thing I did was introduce the athletes and gave them each an opportunity to tell their story (where they grew up, high school, why they began wrestling, how they got to MSU, etc.) Then I asked my questions:  1) What is a typical day for you like during the season?  2) As a student athlete, how important are academics?  3) Describe any hardships or struggles you had to overcome to get where you are today?  4) How important is nutrition and lifestyle choices for you as a wrestler?  5) As a representative of MSU, how important is sportsmanship? What would be the consequences if you displayed poor sportsmanship.

The Questions continued After the athletes answered my questions, I asked them the student’s questions and had each student who posed the Question stand up.  Students Questions:  1) My brother is a wrestler, what can he do to improve?  2) What do you like about wrestling? Why do you wrestle?  3) Have you played any other sports?  4) Do you only train during the regular season?  5) What is heaviest weight you can lift?  6) What hobbies do you have, what do you do in the Spring time?  7) Have you ever lost? How do you deal with losing?  8) How long have you been wrestling?

After the questions…  The question and answer segment took about 25 minutes and following that the kids got an opportunity to meet the athletes and talk to them up close and personal before they left

Debriefing & Follow-up  After the athletes left I spoke with the students and touched on some of the good points that were raised by the athletes.  I used the athletes as an example or proof that anyone can accomplish their goals and if Franklin can overcome having to move to America away from his family where nobody spoke his language, then you can overcome anything that happens to you.  After a 10 minute discussion, the classroom teachers and I advised the kids to think about writing letters to the athletes to thank them for coming.  I am going to get a Team Poster that has both Franklin and Tim on it, then get it laminated with a picture of the athletes speaking to the students. My mentor is going to hang it up in the gym and he plans on using them as a constant reminder to do the right things and make good choices.