For the month of February, players on the varsity boys’ basketball team have been reading to different classes at Throop Elementary.

To begin the process of signing up, each Throop teacher receives an email asking if they would like a “Ram Reader.” If the teacher would like one, Head Coach Dusty Cole assigns a player to the classroom based on what he feels would be a good fit. Once given a teacher, the players go to Throop during their free periods and read to students.

“We do this every year typically around the month of February. High school boys basketball players go down to Throop and read to the young kiddos. Basically, we send a high school player down to read to a classroom once a week. Generally, they will go down and read four times for 30-45 minutes at a time to a classroom. It is kind of like a tradition. It is something we have done for quite some time,” said Cole. 

This tradition started with the girls’ basketball program and has been continued through the boys’ program.

“We want everyone to understand that we put a major emphasis on academics here at Paoli. Our Student-Athletes are sometimes under the microscope. Many people believe that we only care about sports and winning. That just isn’t the case. We try to help all of our kids any way we possibly can. The goal is to be successful in whatever path you choose. Anytime you are going out of your way to do something for someone else, everyone involved is going to benefit from that,” said Cole.