by Bea Peterson
At St. Mary’s Academy Tuesday morning students heard from Siena College Men’s and Women’s basketball players about the perseverance necessary to practice basketball many hours a week, play in basketball games and find time to study and keep up good grades. The players answered students’ questions, ran through some drills with them and then had a breakout session with girls and boys from grades three to eight. The visit ended with an autograph session for all the students, from kindergarten through grade eight.
For ten years the College has had an Adopt-A-School program and in recent years St. Mary’s Academy has been one of the adopted schools.
The Siena College website states, “The College and the Athletic Department mission statements cite community service and volunteerism as critical components of the Siena experience. In fact, the first core value outlined in the athletic department’s mission reads: The athletic department will provide opportunities in which student athletes can share in the Franciscan values of Siena through its Saints in the Community program.
The newly redesigned Adopt-A-School program is a community initiative intended to motivate area elementary students through interaction with Siena’s student-athletes. Members of Siena’s athletic teams interact with designated schools throughout the year. In addition to providing guidance and leadership to area youths, Siena’s student athletes learn first hand the value of volunteering in the community. The elementary students can find that learning is fun as teachers incorporate Siena Athletics into class lesson plans (i.e. using statistics for math assignments or writing about the players for English).
Siena’s student-athletes correspond throughout the year and ultimately visit the school. Each school is presented with an Adopt-A-School poster, identifying it as a current participant in the program. Additionally, Siena publications and prizes are provided for the school to give out to students who are deemed outstanding performers. Each school receives 50 tickets to a men’s and women’s basketball game, and the entire school is invited to come to campus for a day in the fall and spring to watch other Siena student-athletes in action.”
On Thursday the entire student body of St. Mary’s Academy attended home games of both Siena teams.
