Dec. 9, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame men’s basketball coach Mike Brey will partner with Bremen Middle on Thursday morning, Dec. 9 to tipoff the school’s Ticket To Reading Rewards, a reading motivational program that is being implemented for the 2009-10 school year.
Brey will speak to seventh and eighth grade students at Bremen Middle School at 9:00 a.m., on Dec. 10. In addition, students in attendance will receive tickets to the Dec. 22 Irish men’s basketball game versus Bucknell.
Ticket To Reading Rewards is part of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Foundation and is the leading motivational program in the country for middle school students.
The program was created in 2002 by Arne Duncan (now US Secretary of Education) at Chicago Public Schools, and with the aid of the NABC Foundation. The program has been highly successful and results in Chicago have shown that students can gain nearly an extra grade level in reading by participating in this initiative.
Equally important, Ticket To Reading Rewards is a fun, motivational program that uses the catch of college basketball to challenge students to read outside the classroom. Possible rewards include a free subscription to Sports Illustrated for KIDS, cinch bags, medals, mini hoop-backboard-ball sets and water bottles with carabineers. Also, students get a free ticket to a college basketball game.
The top reading student at Bremen Middle School in grades seven and eight will receive special trophy through the Ticket To Reading Rewards program and the NABC. Bremen also will compete for a Top Reading School trophy against other schools of its size.
“We’re very excited about the Ticket To Reading Awards and to have Coach Brey visit our school and speak with our students,” Bremen Middle School assistant principal Ryan Dickinson says. “Our school has placed an even larger emphasis on reading this school year. We’ve challenged our students to read more than ever before.
“The Ticket To Reading Reward program will provide incentives to keep our focus on reading. It is going to provide great motivation for our students to hear such a quality coach like Coach Mike Brey speak in person. Plus there will be the added incentive for our students to attend an Irish men’s basketball game!”
To learn more about the Ticket To Reading Rewards program, visit www.tickettoreadingrewards.org.