Men’s basketball program completes “The Comet-CAN” program

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball program may not have won as many games on the court as it hoped during the 2013-14 season. However, the players were winners off the court, as they successfully completed the first season of "The Comet-CAN" program.

The program was created to utilize the educational opportunity which exists due to the proximity of Olivet College and Olivet Community Schools. More specifically, the unique opportunity to have the Olivet College men's basketball student-athletes interact with grade school students at their schools is beneficial to both the basketball players and students.

This year's program saw six visits take place on Wednesdays during the months of January and February at Fern Persons Elementary School and Olivet Middle School. At the elementary school, the majority of the visits were done at the school's library, where the college basketball players read to the children. At the middle school, each player was assigned to a specific teacher, where he read to the kids in the class and helped them with other projects.

"What a great connection between Olivet Community Schools and Olivet College," exclaimed Brock Peters, principal at Ferns Persons. "Our students had the opportunity to get up close and personal with 'celebrities' from our home town. Not only have that, but the college basketball players were helping instilled a love for reading into our students."

At the end of the program, the children were invited to attend the Olivet College men's basketball game vs. Trine (Ind.) University.