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MATTAPAN, Mass. (February 26, 2015) – Every once in a while you will hear an inspirational story about someone overcoming all odds to reach unforeseeable feats. Stories such as these are meant to inspire us.
At the Chittick Elementary School, in the city neighborhood of Mattapan, students were treated to the remarkable account of Wilma Rudolph’s life journey on Tuesday morning.
The school-wide read-a-long was part of the Read to Achieve program presented by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) in partnership with the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation and community partner ReadBoston.
Celtics guard Phil Pressey, Celtics legend Dana Barros, team mascot Lucky, and HMH director of corporate social responsibility Andrew Russell were all in attendance to celebrate with the young academics.
Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull tells the tale of a brave young woman who broke down social and physical barriers to go on to make a lasting impression on the world stage at the 1960 Olympic Games.
Pressey spoke to the students at the conclusion of the book reading about the life lessons one can take away from Rudolph’s legacy.
"Be confident and believe in yourself,” stated Pressey. “If you do that, you can do anything you put your mind to."
Pressey went on to discuss how throughout his life people have underestimated his abilities to make it to the NBA due to his size.
“It is all about self-confidence,” proclaimed Pressey. “You find your true self within. It’s about having heart!”
Russell then built off the guard’s pep-talk about having the proper mindset to reach a given goal by sharing a few words on using the power of reading to go wherever you may dream.
“The more you read, the more your imagination opens up,” exclaimed Russell. “As a school community, 99% of you reached your reading goal for this month. Keep it up, your imagination is the key to a door of endless possibilities.”
As the students dismissed back to class they chatted with each other about what the story had taught them.
One thing rang true amongst all the chatter – anything is possible!