Good grades were the ticket for Aurora students to shoot hoops with players from the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.
In a change of pace, the players came to meet the kids on their own court.
Four Nuggets visited Aurora Central High School’s gym to meet the 150 selected K-12 kids from Aurora Public Schools, encourage them to continue their scholarly success, and play a little ball.
The students were divided into age groups and rotated though different stations in the gym, where players showed them how to block, rebound and shoot.
“Let’s go, team – put some legs into it,” yelled Hinkley High School senior Rasheed Lawal, cheering for his classmate who lofted the ball from the 3-point line while Nugget Francisco Elson caught the attempt and threw it back.
“It’s a dream,” said Lawal. “I watch them on TV, but I never thought I’d meet them.”
Players posed for school photos, and each kid received a goody bag, filled with school supplies, a signed basketball card and tickets to Monday’s game. Joining Elson were Earl Watson, Julius Hodge and Linas Kleiza.The event, organized by the Aurora Education Foundation and Kroenke Sports Enterprises, is in its second year. The invitations were divided evenly between selected elementary, middle and high schools in the district, said Angela Hutton- Howard, the foundation’s executive director.
“This isn’t ‘you can become a professional athlete’ – being a professional athlete means having an education, too,” Hutton-Howard said.
Students were chosen based on scholarship, attendance and citizenship, she added.
At Lyn Knoll Elementary, deciding which 10 kids to invite was left to the teachers, who looked not just at scholarly behavior but at those who needed the self-esteem boost, said principal LuAnn Tallman.
Fourth-grade teacher Brenna Burgess chose one boy partly for his leadership skills but mainly because he draws and writes constantly about his role model, Nugget Earl Boykins.
“He writes songs for class about how, because he’s so short, Earl has inspired him to play basketball because he is also short,” Burgess said.
The Nuggets’ community ambassador, Mark Randall, spoke to the kids about how to maintain their success, “through your season and your life,” and read tips from the NBA’s national “Read to Achieve Program.”
He reminded the students, especially the older ones, to respect their parents and teachers,
Jonathan Guierrez, fourth-grader at Elkhart Elementary, held up his new Nuggets T-shirt to inspect the front. He writes to the Nuggets and thinks they are good role models, but they weren’t going to make him try harder in class.
“I’m trying harder already because of my teacher; she gave me the opportunity to come here,” Guierrez said.
Staff writer Julianne Bentley can be reached at jbentley@denverpost.com.
