Senior Zach Alderman reads a book with a second grader at Broken Arrow Elementary School.

Photo by Genevieve Voigt

By Genevieve Voigt
It’s Friday. Game day. The football players are wearing their jerseys and their next class is weights.
But they’re not going to weights; they’re headed back to grade school.
At Broken Arrow Elementary School, the second and third graders are hoping that they’ll get to see the big kids today.
So far, the senior football players have gone to Broken Arrow to read books and play games with the children twice. Head football coach Dirk Wedd organized the program before the season started.
Wedd recognizes the importance of giving back to the community and wants to give his players the opportunity to be seen as more than just a position on the field.
“I love for our kids to get more out of football than just playing,” Wedd said.
The football team organizes a food bank with a local church as well, but Wedd was determined to create more opportunities to give back.
“I asked the seniors what they felt were some possibilities,” Wedd said. “We put our heads together and came up with: ‘Well, it’s fun to read to kids.’ So I called Broken Arrow. . . and they welcomed it with open arms.”
The young students at Broken Arrow enjoy having the football players visit them. It’s always exciting to have something new during class, and the students look up to the players.
Wedd hopes that being around younger children will make the players aware of their influence. The players can become role models for younger students.
“You never know when you may make a difference in a child’s life. When they came back the other day, I made them tell the team what they gained from it. Drew [Green] said, ‘Well I got a big hug from one of the kids,’” Wedd said.
Senior Nick Benton enjoys going to read to the children. The players and the younger students all gain from the experience.
Wedd brainstormed with a couple of seniors, but Benton didn’t hear about the program until later.
“I felt kind of cool,” Benton said. “They were holding on to our legs as we were leaving and it was a lot of fun.”
After helping the kids and playing games with them, Benton had the opportunity to read a story about Barbie to the children.
At first, the players seemed unfamiliar. Before meeting the players reading to him, third grader Asa Douglass wasn’t sure what to think.
“I was kind of nervous, because I didn’t really know [them],” Douglass said.
The students quickly warmed up to the football players. After meeting the players and listening to the story, Douglass had a lot of fun.
“You can think and you can actually listen,” Douglass said.
Though the students enjoy being read to, the football players are sometimes more interesting than the story. Senior Zay Boldridge questions how much the story matters.
“They’re kind of eager to know who you are after the book,” Boldridge said. “I mean, sometimes I think that they don’t care about the book, they just want to talk to you afterwards.”
Both Benton and Boldridge have noticed how much the children look up to them. The football team has received letters from the kids thanking them.
The players have gone twice, and another trip is planned for later in the season. Lawrence High School and Broken Arrow want the program to continue in the future.
The program may expand next year, but Benton is looking at his last opportunity to go. He wishes that the players could go every game day.
“The first time, I thought it was kind of crazy, and then after everything got settled, it was a lot of fun. Just little kids running around everywhere, flashbacks of kindergarten,” Benton said. “I enjoy doing it a lot, and I’d like to do it a lot more than we’re doing it now.”