BADGERS GIVE BACK READ ACROSS
W
hen senior Wisconsin men's basketball
player Mike Bruesewitz was asked to
describe his experience visiting local
elementary schools in celebration of "Dr. Seuss Day,"
he replied with a quote from Dr. Suess himself:
"The more you read, the more things you will
know," he said. "The more that you learn, the more
places you'll go."
More places, indeed. Bruesewitz, joined by 12 other
UW student-athletes, visited four elementary schools
across Dane County last Friday in celebration of the
National Education Association's Read Across America Day, which coincides with Dr. Suess' birthday.
Beginning at 9:30 a.m., Bruesewitz kicked off the
day-long "caravan" at Chavez Elementary School in
Madison. Joined by fellow men's basketball player
Duje Dukan, football player Jake Ninneman and UW
crew members Katie Rosoff and Gretchen Miron, the
student-athletes were introduced at an all-school assembly and then dispersed to enter individual classrooms and read in a more intimate setting.
"Taking time out of my day to go do something as
cool as promoting reading to elementary school kids
is something I don't get to do often in my busy life,"
Rosoff said. "It's the best feeling to know you're doing
something nice to benefit someone else's life."
Next, the student-athletes made their way across
town to Randall Elementary School to read to two
lucky fifth grade classrooms. Refusing to read anything but Dr. Seuss, Bruesewitz had one young student run down to the library to fetch him the classic
The Cat in The Hat. The students were in for a real
treat when the 6-foot-6 basketball player broke out
different voices for each character.
With two visits complete, new UW student-athletes
hopped in the van to finish the last two stops of the
day-long caravan. Football players Beau Allen, David Gilbert, Jake Rademacher, Jack Russell, Stephen
Salata, Marcus Trotter and Derek Watt were joined
by women's swimming team member Karissa Kruszewski at Heritage Elementary School in Waunakee ―
Russell's former stomping grounds.
"We half expected to see a statue of Russell out
26 » VARSITY
MAR CH 7, 2013
