Rock Creek Forest Elementary School welcomed about 50 members of the University of Maryland track and field team for its Reading Rocks event earlier this month. They visited classrooms and read to students. They also talked about the importance of studying hard, reading and writing, telling students, “You’ll have to write many papers in college!” They brought enormous enthusiasm to the day.
Reading Rocks was the brainchild of former Rock Creek Forest reading specialist Clara Register. It began about 10 years ago. Register discovered that fifth grade teacher Meredith Valmon was married to Andrew Valmon, Olympic Gold medalist and Maryland head coach for cross country and track and field. She suggested he bring the team to the school to read to students and speak with them about setting goals and looking ahead to college. Andrew Valmon saw a great opportunity for his student-athletes to be role models and invest in their Maryland community.
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