Rockland County Readers Get Van Horn Visit

But it might help.

Twenty-five of these topnotch nine-year olds took a stroll down the school corridor to the corner of Printer Avenue and Laptop Lane -- Bardonia is obviously into early computer education -- where, in the school library, they met Knicks forward Keith Van Horn and Athletic Trainer Mike Saunders. "I've been the Knicks trainer for 182 dog years," Saunders, who apparently believes in combining reading, math, and maybe even animal husbandry, said. "Who knows how many human years that is?" Fifty little hands shot northward. "That's right. Twenty-six."

Van Horn, who has four kids of his own, was a huge hit with the children as well. Following the chorus of "Whew!!!" upon his entrance -- his 6-10 height does leave an impact -- he was even more impressive in delivering his message. "How many of you guys watch the Knicks?" he asked. Fifty hands, again. "Well, what you DON'T see is all the hard work that the players have put in in the classroom in order to get to this level. Whatever you want to be when you grow up -- a doctor, lawyer, or a basketball player -- you have to read to be successful at it. My love for reading has spurred me on to be successful in college, to get a good education -- and then play in the NBA. No matter what your aspirations are, you have to be successful in school first."

"If you don't have a strong foundation of reading today, you won't do well in the future," added Knicks Vice President of Community Relations and Fan Development Karin Buchholz. "We at the Knicks want you to make a correlation between reading and fun. We'd like you to learn to love to read, to start to pick up books more often. Today's book is about Dr. Martin Luther King who, as you'll see soon, started to think about making a difference at your age. Really, it all starts with reading and thinking."

Van Horn, Saunders and the students then all read "My Brother Martin" out loud, each reader taking a turn page by page. This touching childrens' book, written by outstanding educator Christine King Farris (Dr. King's older sister), tells the true story of a childhood in pre-Civil Rights Atlanta. Mother Dear and Father keep the children happy and sheltered as long as they can but, eventually and inevitably, the spectre of racism does rear its ugly head when the kids' long-time white playmates from across the street are no longer allowed to play with them. "It was a devastating blow," Ms. Farris writes. When Mom explains the reasons behind the betrayal the best she can, M.L. (Dr. King's childhood nickname) looks up into her eyes and says "Mother Dear, one day I'm going to turn this world upside down."

And, of course, that is exactly what he did.

"I learned from this book that if people are different, it doesn't have to matter," little blond Taylor Curley said. "And that you should always follow your dreams," added Michelle Murphy, another outstanding reader who was all adorned in purple.

"These kids are here because they were the twenty five most outstanding readers in our year-long Knicks reading program," Principal Eileen Mautschke said. "Altogether they read over 5000 minutes in just two and a half months. And some of them were not great readers beforehand, not at all." Freckle-faced Robert Dempsey is one of those new converts to reading. "I now read over 40 minutes a day," he said proudly. "I learned that to read more is really important. It's what Keith (Van Horn) said, you have to read to go to college, be successful, and get a job."

Before autographing all the books -- the students were encouraged to take their copies home so they could build their own libraries -- Van Horn had a fun question-and-answer session with the kids. "These are my favorite," he said. "Thing is, you never know what kids will come up with." This time "What size is your shoe?" was one of the inquiries. "Size seventeen," said Keith. "My dress shoes are sixteen but I wear my sneakers a size larger." "What inspired you to be a basketball player?" "Growing up, watching Magic (Johnson) and Kareem (Abdul Jabbar). Plus, I come from an athletic family. My sister was an All-American basketball player at USC." "Is it hard to get into basketball?" "Not if you love it. Find what you really love to do, whatever that may be, and then follow your path." "Who is your all-time favorite player? "Well, I look up to a lot of them -- but I'd have to say Michael Jordan. He defined greatness."

The kids then made an outline of their own hands on a piece of paper and wrote their own special dreams into the cutouts (to be posted on the school walls). Twenty-two dreams wished "No more wars." One said "My dream is to sit next to a basketball player." One dream was "To pass the fourth-grade ELA test." And one, found on the floor, said "No littering."

Well, we said they were cute, smart, and wonderful. We didn't say they were perfect.