MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —
Scales Elementary School classmates and friends Alaynna Edging and Jenna
Woods knew there was some educational value to attending the fifth annual MTSU
Education Day game for 12 Murfreesboro City Schools.
When asked, Edging said she “learned to have fun. This has
been fun and entertaining.” Woods, also 11, “learned that the Blue Raider girls
can make a lot of their shots.” Secretly, what they loved was the front-row
view — “VIP seats,” as Edging called them.
Many of the 7,100 youngsters answered MTSU MTeach math
questions. But in addition to the game, it was a whole lot more fun as they
watched fellow students build a snowman, wrapping toilet paper around their
teachers; see their classmates shake, jump and more as they participated in
“Jingle in the Trunk;” and play other holiday-themed activities on the court.
While Ohio (4-0) emerged a 73-52 winner in front of 11,222
fans, Education Day has become an event — “an all-day recess” as John Pittard
Elementary School teacher Carla Calvin put it — that may have far-reaching
implications as the first- through eighth-graders spent time on a university
campus attending a women’s basketball game.
“Forty or 50 years ago, I saw a game and it wasn’t called
Education Day back then, but I developed a passion for the sport and now I am
the coach at MTSU,” Rick Insell said. “Maybe somebody sitting in the stands
will become the next Pat Summitt (the late hall of fame University of Tennessee
coach).”
“Some child, probably sitting in those seats, who’s got a
big dream, may become a basketball player, a coach or something affiliated with
MTSU,” added Insell, who said he arrived at Murphy Center at 4 a.m. and
marveled that city and campus police already were setting up for the 11 a.m.
game.
Calvin, who teaches fourth-graders at a school that brought
800 students to the game, said it gives the youngsters the experience of
visiting campus and socializing.
“Some of them may live around the corner (from MTSU), but
have never entered this building,” Calvin said. “It is a day away from school.
They get to learn how to be social with friends.”
Linda Gilbert, Murfreesboro City Schools director and an
MTSU alumna with three degrees, praised her teachers, staff, bus drivers and
others, “welcoming them with their smiles, providing safety, guiding them to
participatory spots, ensuring a healthy environment, encouraging them to have
fun … and helping them see opportunities for their future.”
At times, the noise inside Murphy Center was deafening.
Especially when an Ohio Bobcat stepped to the free-throw line. Then it became a
really loud crowd.
Other schools
attending the game included Black Fox, Bradley Academy, Cason Lane, Discovery
School, Erma Siegel, Hobgood Elementary, Mitchell-Neilson, Northfield, Overall
Creek and Reeves Rogers.
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