FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Members of the Nova Southeastern University men’s basketball and volleyball teams recently began a mentorship program with Davie Elementary School. As part of the program, student-athletes will visit the school weekly to read to students and also serve as mentors. The NSU student-athletes are very excited to take part in the new initiative.
“It was great working with the kids at Davie Elementary,” recounted Casey Carroll of the men’s basketball team (Sr., Youngstown, Ohio). “We had a lot of fun and we hope to be able to continue to have an impact in the community.”
In addition to the mentorship opportunity, the volleyball team joined Davie Elementary in their annual “Halloween Costume Parade” on Friday, Oct. 30, prior to their match that night against Florida Southern. The student-athletes joined three separate grades in the outdoor DJ session of the festivities and partook in a flash mob to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
“At Davie Elementary there is definitely no time to be shy,” said volleyball player Ashlyn Hill (So., Plano, Texas). “The team was so excited to be a part of something new and get involved in this event with the Davie Elementary staff as we are starting a new relationship between our program and theirs. All of the staff and students were having such a good time with the dances, music and costumes in the parade and our team was no exception to the fun! We cannot wait to go back and start working in the classroom!”
In November, both teams will visit classrooms for “NSU Career Day.” Davie Elementary students will prepare questions for the NSU student-athletes to answer pertaining to academics, athletics, healthy habits and more. Starting in January, the attention will shift to group exercises where student-athletes will read with the elementary students.