Submitted photo Belleville Mennonite School first-grade teacher Tamela Peachey (left) questions varsity basketball players Quinn Renno (middle) and Mariah Schuble.

BELLEVILLE — It wasn’t that long ago when Quinn Renno remembered Belleville Mennonite School varsity basketball players hanging out in his classroom, reading to him and other students.

“When I was their age, I idolized the varsity athletes,” said Renno, now a junior at Belleville Mennonite.

Renno and other varsity basketball players spent time in elementary classrooms in mid-January, reading stories to the younger students, encouraging their efforts to learn and showing appreciation for the support they receive from their younger fans while they’re playing basketball on the court.

It’s all part of Belleville Mennonite’s Read to Succeed initiative. Renno spent time reading to a class of first-graders.

“They were really excited and interested,” Renno said of the students’ reactions to him reading to them. His favorite part of the program was “spending time with the kids in the classroom,” he said.

Until Renno took part in the program, he never realized “how much the younger students look up to us athletes,” he added.

Renno believes the reading program is important because it helps “to promote interest in sports,” helping varsity athletes connect with their younger fans.”

Senior Miriam Stoltzfus agrees the program allows the older athletes to meet their adoring fans. “They enjoyed the book and asking me questions about sports and school,” she said of reading to fourth-graders.

Despite attending a smaller school where everyone generally knows each other, Stoltzfus saw some unfamiliar faces. “I got to meet some younger classmen I don’t know,” she explained.

Regardless, the program’s message from every athlete proved to be the same. “It can encourage them to work hard and continue to strive for their vest in school and their sport,” Stoltzfus said.

Senior Natalie Yoder hopes the program will benefit the younger students. “It is important to build relationships with the younger grades to help mentor and promote academics and athletics,” she said.

The program taught varsity athletes, like Yoder, valuable lessons, too. “I learned how much these interactions mean to these elementary students as well as the curiosity of these young minds.”

And it even brought back some fond memories. Yoder said, “I liked being able to interact in the classroom setting and remember my days as an elementary student.”

The younger students also didn’t seem to mind a change of pace, as the athletes replaced their regular teachers.

“They loved it!” Yoder said. “It was a chance for them to see the influence of high schoolers.”

For senior Sonya Yoder, it was an opportunity to mingle with some of the younger fans in the stands. “I was able to meet younger students who have cheered for me all season,” she said. “They have cheered for me and supported me even though I may not have known them so well.”

Yoder learned about her fans’ interests by participating in the project. “I learned more about what younger students were interested in, and how their classroom worked,” she added.

Sophomore Karina Renno just hopes to make a difference “to spark interest and encourage” them, she said. “You never know how much it will impact them.”

The sky is the limit for younger students, at this point. “It might spark an interest in the sport,” Renno said of being a role model. “They may look up to you and want to grow up to become an athlete.

“It is important to take time to encourage and spend time with younger kids,” she added. “When I was younger, it made my week to hangout with an older player.”

Junior Evan Crosson’s favorite part of the program was “seeing how the kids were excited to see us read and talk to them,” he said. “They enjoyed the stories and the time we spent talking to them.”

Crosson said it was special getting to know the younger fans. “They look up to our team and building a bond with them can help,” he said.

Some students who participated in the project were recognized by their teachers as award recipients for demonstrating a great level of improvement or excellence in reading and were honored at halftime of a basketball game – in front of their young fans, of course.

This year’s recipients included: Autumn Turner and Wyatt Yoder, kindergarten; Kennedy Zook and Joan Miller, first grade; Hartley Zook and Brantley Weaver, second grade; Brooke Yoder and Landon Weaver, third grade; Harper Zook and Ashton Maclay, fourth grade; and Khloe Kenepp and Alex Reed, fifth grade.