Through Education & Literacy, we are committed to…
- Building a lifelong love of reading in youth
- Providing all children with access to books & technology
- Encouraging partnerships with community groups to continue to bring public awareness to the value of education & literacy.
Read to Achieve
The NBA’s Read to Achieve campaign is a year-round national program designed to help young people develop a life-long love for reading and on-line literacy as well as encourage adults to read and talk regularly with children. Reaching an estimated 50 million children a year, Read to Achieve is the most extensive educational outreach initiative in the history of professional sports.
Read to Achieve serves as the NBA/WNBA’s and its’ team’s primary community activity and harnesses all of professional basketball’s best assets to impact one of the most pressing issue our society faces. The program promotes the value of reading and online literacy while encouraging families and adults to read regularly with young children.
The goals of this initiative is to build a lifelong love of reading in young people by providing greater access to books and technology; encourage and engage members of the NBA/WNBA family including current & former players, league and team personnel, coaches, wives and parents to participate in the program as a Volunteer Reading Coach and to use all of the NBA/WNBA assets to create ongoing public awareness of this initiative through courtside signage, PSA’s, NBA.com and NBA.com TV presence and events around the league.
At the local level, the Indiana Pacers Read to Achieve Program, presented by Chase and in partnership with the city of
Weekly
A component of the Read to Achieve Program presented by Chase and in partnership with the city of
Special guest readers include members of the Indiana Pacers, Boomer, Bowser, the Indiana Pacemates and members of the Pacers All-Star reading “team”.
Guest readers read students selected children’s stories from large oversized books. Students participating in the reading timeouts receive a Pacers Reading Kit, complete with a customized Pacers book, Pacers Hoop City, and other reading tools. Children also have the opportunity to win Pacers prizes including autographed items!
Each visit is approximately one hour in length with class sizes averaging 120 first through third grade students. This year’s reading timeouts take place at the following schools:
Anna Brochhausen IPS #88
Center for Inquiry
Imagine Schools
Rousseau McClelland #391
Stephen Foster #367
William A. Bell Elementary
William Penn #49
Click the link below to access this year’s Read to Achieve posters!
Read to Achieve Pledge | Read to Achieve Poster
Read to Achieve All-Star
A component of the Read to Achieve Program presented by Chase and in partnership with the city of
Members of the All-Star Reading Team volunteer their time and knowledge to children throughout the city in various monthly events and activities that promote and bring public awareness to the value of reading. This includes press conferences, radio voice-overs, local/national print and television PSA’s, in-arena videos, etc.
Click here for a list of All-Star
Read to Achieve Tip Off
A component of the Read to Achieve Program presented by Chase and in partnership with the city of
Members of the Indiana Pacers All-Star Reading Team and Indiana Pacemates, along with mascots
Each child in attendance received a Pacers Reading Kit, a Read to Achieve t-shirt, Boomer’s Halloween Candy and tickets to the Pacers’ Read to Achieve Day game vs. the Chicago Bulls on Feb. 22.
Read to Achieve Day
A component of the Read to Achieve Program presented by Chase and in partnership with the city of
A celebration of reading, Read to Achieve Day included the following activities & events:
Click the link to download the official Read to Achieve Day poster and listen to the Pacers players recite the Read to Achieve Pledge!
Free Book Giveaway
A component of the Read to Achieve Program presented by Chase and in partnership with the city of Indianapolis’ Knozone Program, the Indiana Pacers, in conjunction with Bryant Heating & Cooling host a Free Book Giveaway once a month during the Pacers regular season.
Books are available beginning when doors open through the end of the first quarter (or while supplies last). Available books range from preschool to high school age. Fans can stop by the Free Book Giveaway table to receive their free books, with a limit of two books per person.
Pregame Book Exchange
A component of the Read to Achieve Program presented by Chase and in partnership with the city of
12 lucky children are selected each home game from area not-for-profit organizations to participate in the book exchange, where they receive an autographed copy of the book Pacers Hoop City from a member of the Indiana Pacers team, as well as a Pacers goodie bag.
Call A Pacer
A component of the Read to Achieve Program presented by Chase and in partnership with the city of
This annual program allows callers to listen to featured Pacers' players, coaches and Pacemates read a segment of a children’s story. Fans of all ages can call (317) 275-4444, to hear members of the Pacers read pre-selected children's stories. Phone lines are open 24 hours, and may be accessed by up to four listeners at a time. Fans can also log on to Pacers.com to hear these same stories, as well as stories read by members of the All-Star Reading Team.
Call-A-Pacer was created to encourage school-age children to read and visit their neighborhood library. All stories run for one week from April to July.
Click on the link below to access this year’s Call A Pacer Line-up and to download this year’s Call A Pacer poster.
As part of the Pacers Education & Literacy Initiative, the Pacers provide corporate partnership to the
Opening in 2001, the mission of
This smaller school targets attendance, academic achievement and improved behavior. Emphasis is placed on building self-esteem to help students prepare for the challenges they will meet in the future. The school policies foster positive expectations and a “
The Indiana Pacers are an integral part of the
The
In 2006-07, students were separated, creating a
Pacers Learning Centers
As part of the Pacers Education & Literacy Initiative, the Pacers sponsor six Pacers Learning Centers.
The Pacers Learning Centers provides books and technological resources to select Indianapolis Public Schools to implement the National Basketball Association’s national reading initiative, Read to Achieve, at the local level.
The Pacers Learning Centers are utilized for reading groups, tutoring, homework clubs, and various character-building activities. In addition computer workstations are available to the teachers and students for research assignments.
The first
100 Black Men Scholastic Basketball Awards Ceremony
As part of the Pacers Education & Literacy Initiative, the Pacers host the 100 Black Men Scholastic Basketball Program Awards Ceremony.
The 100 Black Men Scholastic Basketball Program was designed to raise the level of scholastic achievement in the classroom, at home and on and off the basketball court. Each week,
By achieving good scores in these areas, the students earn points which give them a chance to play basketball with the student’s basketball team and compete with other schools. The Pacers partner with the
Upon conclusion of the program, the Pacers host an awards ceremony for the top 12 students at participating schools.
In 2009, the Pacers hosted the Awards Ceremony in the Clarian Health Entry Pavilion of Conseco Fieldhouse for students representing IPS #14, IPS #34, IPS #51, IPS #54, IPS #55, IPS #69, IPS #81, IPS #93, IPS #102, Deer Run Elementary & Eastbrook Elementary.
Indiana Pacers player Maceo Baston and Assistant Coach Lester Conner, along with Indiana Pacers mascot Boomer and Indiana Fever mascot Freddy Fever were on hand to congratulate the students and distribute medals and certificates to the top “point-earners” from these schools.
In addition, Coach Conner delivered a motivational speech to over 300 students who were recognized for their hard work and dedication, both on and off the court.
Abrams Academic Achievement Award
As part of the Pacers Education & Literacy Initiative, the Indiana Pacers, in partnership with Pacers team physician Dr. John Abrams sponsor the Abrams Academic Achievement Award.
The Abrams Academic Achievement Award was established to recognize students at the
Each month a student is recognized during an on-court ceremony at an Indiana Pacers game, receiving two Krieg-DeVault Club Level tickets to the game, serves as the honorary ball kid at that night’s game, along with a $200 Simon Mall Gift Certificate, a Certificate of Achievement and a Pacers goodie bag. In addition, recipients have their name engraved on a plaque, which is displayed at their school.
Click here for a list of this year’s recipients
This download is located in the Photos and Documents for Initiatives folder and is called Abrams Award Winners list.
Start Your Day With The Pacers
As part of the Indiana Pacers Education & Literacy Initiative, the Pacers host “Start Your Day with the Pacers” for students at select elementary schools.
During the 2008-09 season, students from IPS #43, Southwestern Elementary, Irvington Community School and Crestview Elementary School received backpacks from Pacers player Josh McRoberts, former Pacers player Darnell Hillman, Boomer, Bowser and members of the Indiana Pacemates.
The goal of the event is to encourage higher attendance rates and to supply students with the tools needed to achieve in school.
Partnership for Young Readers/Making the Grade
As part of the Indiana Pacers Education & Literacy Initiative, the Indiana Pacers, in partnership with The Indianapolis Star’s Newspaper in Education Program, have teamed up to present Making the Grade.
Making the Grade is a 12-week education program that stresses good writing skills and character education and development. Each week the Making the Grade feature includes articles and information on Pacers players and coaches. In addition, students are invited to respond to character-building questions posed by Boomer and Bowser.
Of those responses, five essays are selected every week to receive four tickets to an Indiana Pacers game. In addition, one top essay is chosen to be published in the following week’s Indianapolis Star.
For more information on Partnership for Young Readers, email nie@indystar.com.
