Bethany Lutheran Basketball Teams Create New Ways to Give Back
By Julie Thomas
The Bethany Lutheran College men’s and women’s basketball programs created a new event this year called, “Viking Reading.” The teams ventured over to Mt. Olive Lutheran School where members of the Viking basketball teams read to second, third and fourth graders.
The community service project officially ends with “Kids Day” at the Bethany basketball games on Saturday, December 17th. The women’s game starts at 2 p.m. with the men’s tip-off to follow at 4 p.m., both teams will play the Wartburg Warriors. All kids get free admission to the games and the students who participated in the reading event will receive special recognition on the court at halftime.
The Vikings spent 30 minutes in the classroom reading to kids once a week for three weeks. In all, about 15 Bethany student-athletes participated.
“They loved having us around and asking us questions,” said junior Sarah Rosenau (New Ulm, Minn./New Ulm), “It was fun talking with them. We took questions and talked about parts of the books we read.”
The BLC Vikings plan to make “Viking Reading” an annual community service project and hold “Kids Day” annually at a home basketball game in December.
“We appreciate the teacher’s cooperation and really enjoyed spending quality time with the kids,” Men’s Basketball Head Coach David Balza said. “We enjoyed partnering with Mt. Olive and hope to expand on it for years to come.”