New Orleans (October 21, 2002) - Three hundred and twenty five seventh and eighth graders teamed up with Hornets players, broadcasters, and local personalities to tip off the NBA's 'Read to Achieve' program on Monday, October 21 at the Landry Learning Academy in Algiers.

The All-Star Reading Team present at the inaugural event consisted of Hornets players Jamal Mashburn, P.J. Brown, David Wesley, and Baron Davis, Hornets broadcaster Bob Licht, 'Wild' Wayne and Monica Pierre from New Orleans radio station Q93, and Joe Trahan from Fox 8 Sports.

Part of the program tipoff included the donation of a resource center to Landry Learning Center, complete with new carpeting, shelving, chairs, televisions, lights and 3,00 books.

As part of the overall Read to Achieve program, the Hornets will hold Reading Timeouts every month throughout schools in 10 parishes. Members of the Hornets Read to Achieve All-Star Team will visit schools, emphasizing the importance of reading to the students.

The Read to Achieve program is a NBA initiative, in which all 29 teams participate. It is a year-round program designed to help young people develop a life-long love for reading that reaches an estimated 50 million children a year. Read to Achieve is the most extensive educational outreach initiative in the history of professional sports. The New Orleans Hornets focus on three age groups; First through fifth graders participate in the Books & Bugs Reading Program, sixth through eighth graders are involved in the Read To Achieve Outstanding Readers Program, while ninth through 12th graders focus on the Read To Achieve Scholarship Program.

Landry students show off their new 'Read to Achieve' T-Shirts.

P.J. Brown reads to students in the Landry Learning Center.

David Wesley and Jamal Mashburn get ready for their pictures in their new Read to Achieve T-shirts.

Sign for the newly-remodeled Landry Learning Center.