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Nicholson, Florida Blue Help Encourage Reading Among Youth

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By Josh Cohen

March 5, 2015

ORLANDO – When he was a student-athlete at St. Bonaventure, Andrew Nicholson excelled in the classroom and on the court. He balanced books and basketball as well as any star player can and it earned him a college degree in Physics and an opportunity to play in the NBA.

Nicholson is proof that those who shine in sports can also be honor students. On Thursday, March 5 at the Orlando Public Library, Drew got a chance to help kids understand the importance of reading and education. He joined Magic Community Ambassadors Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw, Magic Dancers, STUFF, the Magic Mascot, and representatives from Florida Blue in a Basket for Books “storytime” session.

“It’s a good opportunity for them to get access to books,” said Nicholson, who also handed out backpacks. “It opens their minds to the world.”

While growing up in Toronto, Nicholson says he enjoyed reading, whether it was fictional novels like The Great Gatsby or books less conventional.

“Weird thing is I actually read a lot of encyclopedias and dictionaries,” he said. “I was always fascinated by big words.”

It is the fifth straight season the Magic and Florida Blue have teamed up to develop lifelong learners through the Basket for Books program. For every point made by the Orlando Magic at every home game one book is donated to the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County.

Since program inception, more than 34,500 books have been donated (through February 2015) to the Early Learning Coalition. More than 4,500 books were donated last season with the help of Houghton Mifflin & Harcourt Publishing Company.

Nicholson’s family was all about school first, sports second. It meant a lot to his parents that he earn a college degree and that was accomplished in 2012.

“It (education) was drilled into me,” Nicholson said. “My parents took it very seriously.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 80 percent of the preschool and after-school programs serving at-risk children do not have access to books and 61 percent of low-income families have no children’s books in their homes. When athletes participate in academic-based programs like the one Nicholson was a part of on Thursday, it helps diminish a problem among many children across the United States.

“It (partnering with Magic) has given us a sense that we are not in this by ourselves,” said Florida Blue Senior Market President Tony Jenkins. “When we do it together, it’s just more emphasis and more power that shows up in the community”