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The Bobcats and Kia Motors teamed up to
create a place that inspires students to read.
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Bobcats and Kia Partner to Encourage Reading
By Malinda Murray

September 25, 2008

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Walk into the library at Highland Renaissance Academy in Charlotte and your eyes immediately go to the back of the room. There, under a big bay window, Bobcats orange and blue adorns the wall. Bean bags in the shape of basketballs are scattered throughout the room while Bobcats memorabilia sits on shelves between a myriad of books.

It’s the perfect place to take an adventure by delving into the pages of a novel.

That’s exactly what the Bobcats and Kia Motors intended as they joined forces to create a place that encouraged the students at Highland Renaissance to read.

On Wednesday, September 24, the students got their first look at their new reading center when Bobcats forward Jared Dudley, Lady Cats Jenn and Kaylie, V101.9’s news and public affairs director Bea Thompson and Kia’s District Sales Manager Roy Dodson stopped by the school for a special unveiling ceremony.

With a representative from each class present, Dudley, Thompson and Dodson talked to the kids about how reading can help them achieve their dreams. Then with the help of a giant pair of scissors, they cut the ribbon and invited the kids in to explore the space.

“It’s officially open for knowledge,” Thompson exclaimed as the kids eagerly selected books from the shelves.

“It’s nice.,” remarked Dudley. “For us to come here with Kia and set up a little reading corner, it’s fun. They have couches, rocking chairs and sports books. I definitely think the kids will enjoy it.”

The kids seemed to be enjoying the corner, quickly settling into the bean bags and couches to read.

“I think this is a great place to inspire kids to read more and have fun at the same time,” said Kenia, a fifth grader at the school. “For me, I think it’s awesome. You get to have a peaceful and quiet place at the school, so you can come here any moment that you like. I think it’s pretty cool.”

“The reading corner is really going to enhance our reading model,” remarked Highland Renaissance Academy Assistant Principal Merita Little. “We are a renaissance school, so the children read daily and they have to chart their goals. Any incentive or type of encouragement that we can have to keep them into reading (is great). It doesn’t get any better than this.

The unveiling of the reading corner wasn’t the only surprise for the students at Highland Renaissance though. Immediately following the ribbon cutting, all the students in second through fifth grade gathered in the gym where Bobcats mascot Rufus Lynx, with the help of Dudley and the Lady Cats, kept the kids laughing with his crazy personality.

While the kids were having a great time, they were also learning an important lesson about reading.

Helping kids learn lifelong lessons is something that Dudley feels is a big part of his job.

“For me, I feel as a professional athlete, it’s something that you have to do and you should want to do,” Dudley explained about why he likes to be involved in the community. “You want to influence them because nine times out of 10 the better reader you are, the better student you become. Reading is just part of your everyday life. The younger you can get them to like it, the easier it’s going to be later in life.”

The message that reading is important seemed to be reaching the students at Highland Renaissance.

“I think reading is important because you learn something new and about stuff you don’t know,” said Ahiren, a fifth grader at the school.

To help encourage reading, the Bobcats and Kia also presented to the students a challenge.

Every student that reaches the reading goal set for them by their teacher in the first and second quarters will receive two free tickets to attend a Bobcats game in February. In addition, the boy and girl in each class who receives the most Accelerated Reader points will be invited to an exclusive reading celebration with a Bobcats players, the Lady Cats and Rufus Lynx.

Thompson also sweetened the deal, adding that every student that reaches their goal will get the opportunity to say their name on the radio.

Being part of this program is something that Kia wanted to be a part of because reading is such a critical skill.

“As they say, reading is fundamental,” remarked Dodson. “At Kia, that is extremely important to us to give back. A lot of times, people think that large companies only care about making money and not giving back to the community. We at Kia, are the exact opposite. We participate in all kinds of sponsorships for sports, events at schools, etc. You name it, we try to participate at it.”