March 1, 2013

STANFORD, Calif.- Members of the Stanford men's basketball program were out in the community on Friday to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday with Read Across America Day, a national campaign designed to promote literacy among elementary schools.

The team's visits capped a month-long Classroom Cardinal program that inspired Bay Area students with their reading.

During its inaugural year, Classroom Cardinal engaged 63 classrooms from 15 schools in the Bay Area. More than 706 students completed the program, reading 10 or more books in the month of February to earn a ticket to Sunday's regular-season finale against Utah.

More than 11,700 books combined were read by students in grade levels K-6, with six schools reading more than 1,000 books and one school totaling 2,284 books. Schools reading more than 1,000 books earned a visit from a Stanford basketball player for Read Across America Day, with the player reading a favorite childhood book and answering students' questions on topics ranging from college, studying, time management and healthy habits.

"Having the Stanford men's basketball team out at our school was an amazing and inspiring experience for our students," said Encinal Elementary teacher Karen Strohmaier. "You could have heard a pin drop when the players were speaking. Our kids were that tuned in and listening to every word they said. It's great for them to have such positive role models and hear from student-athletes about the importance of studying hard, reading daily and achieving their goals."

Among the schools earning visits were: Olinder (San Jose), River Glen (San Jose), Willow Oaks (Menlo Park), Encinal (Atherton), Covington (Los Altos) and Keys (Palo Alto).

For more information on Stanford student-athletes giving back to the local community, click here.