A 27-0 WIN on “Sunday Night Football” over the New York Giants has set up a smooth bye week for the Eagles to recharge and relax, but cornerback Brandon Boykin, isn’t done working.
During this week off from play, Boykin, one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks, turned his attention to the “READ! By 4th” campaign, an effort from Philadelphia schools to improve the reading level of grade-school students. According to the campaign, more than half of Philadelphia students beginning fourth grade in traditional and charter public schools in 2012 were unable to read on that grade level.
Boykin arrived yesterday morning at the Prince Hall Elementary School in North Philadelphia to speak to students from kindergarten to third grade in an effort to motivate them to be frequent readers and not become part of that troubling statistic, once they reach fourth grade.
“Everybody sees athletes as these big, strong guys, but I’m like everyone else. I learn every day. You’re never too old to learn,” Boykin said in a library full of children delighted to have a member of the 5-1 Eagles standing in front of them.
Donna Cooper, executive director of Public Citizens and Youth, rallied the students by saying: “We’re going to make sure every student, from kindergarten to third grade, is reading well. The stronger you start fourth grade, the stronger you finish 12th grade. That’s the ultimate touchdown.”
Boykin urged the students to #DoThe22, a hashtag-flavored lesson for the children to read for at least 22 minutes every day.
“For 22 minutes, we’re going to shut down Instagram. We’re going to shut down Twitter,” Boykin said. “We’re going to shut down all of those things, and we’re going to communicate and we’re going to read.”
Philadelphia Daily News – October 17, 2014 – Read article online