Click on the above image for more photos of the football readers at Hilltop.

February 27, 2025 — Even though it’s the off season, members of the White Hawks football team donned their jerseys last week for visits to Hilltop and Shirley Hills primary schools. February is "I Love to Read Month," so the players took the opportunity to celebrate the importance of reading by visiting pre-K through fourth grade classrooms to read books to the young students.

Hilltop students are encouraged to read throughout the year, but in February a special emphasis is put on reading through a variety of intentional programs and activities. According to John Wardlow, Hilltop dean of students, “It was a really neat experience for the football players to model reading to the students, but also a time for the primary students to ask them questions about football, school, or whatever!”

Wardlow praised the program, which was started many years ago by Coach Nick David. “It was great seeing the football players serve as reading advocates and for our students to see older students get excited about books!” he said.

At Shirley Hills, the students loved seeing the high school football players in the hallways and classrooms. “The players did a great job visiting classrooms and reading stories for ‘I Love to Read’ Month,” said Dean of Students Beth Hausladen. “It was great to see older role models showing a love for reading. And we appreciated that they took time to answer questions from eager young minds as well.”

Click on the above image for more photos of the Shirley Hills readers.