Cleveland Cavaliers with Help from Dr. Seuss Give Students a Lesson on the Environment during NBA Read to Achieve Event
"UNLESS someone like you...cares a whole awful lot...nothing is going to get better...It's not."
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Anthony Parker and forward Jawad Williams took time after a recent practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts, the team’s state-of-the art practice facility, to read to 50 students from Douglas MacArthur Girls’ Leadership Academy and Kenneth Clement Boys’ Leadership Academy in a special Green-themed NBA Cares Read to Achieve event. Together with the players, the children read the Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax, and learned a lesson about the importance of taking care of the environment.
In The Lorax a forest is destroyed when the greedy Once-ler cuts down all the Truffula Trees to make Thneeds, despite warnings from a shortish, oldish and brownish Lorax to take care of the environment instead of always taking from it.
Following the Reading Time Out, the students received a tour of Cleveland Clinic Courts to get a firsthand look on how being environmentally responsible is put into practice by the Cavaliers organization. Cleveland Clinic Courts manager David Painter showed the children how the Cavs have heeded the lesson of the Lorax—there are no greedy Once-lers nearby!
The Cavaliers are setting the bar league-wide for implementing eco-responsible practices—with Cleveland Clinic Courts being a prime example. As the students walked the halls that the players roam, they saw how the Cavs save energy by using motion detector sensors that turn off lights when no one is in the room, just like they turn lights off at home. They were in awe when shown the dinnerware the players use is biodegradable—plastic cups are made out of cornstarch and to-go containers, plates and bowls are made from Bagasse (sugar cane plant).
That was not all. The students learned the water retention pond behind the courts isn’t for fishing, but controls storm water run-off to prevent flooding and erosion and improves water quality in the adjacent rivers and streams. At the end of the tour, they discussed all the recycling opportunities the Cavs have throughout the facility, and were rewarded with a Pepsi recycling bin for plastic and cans to take back to their schools so they can practice what they’ve learned all year long.
Read to Achieve, presented by Time Warner Cable in association with CollegeAdvantage529 Savings Plan and Outback Steakhouse, is a year-round campaign designed to help young people develop a life-long love for reading and encourage adults to read regularly with children. The program reaches thousands of elementary, middle and high school students in Northeast Ohio through reading time-outs, book drives and donations, and the construction of Reading and Learning Centers.
For more information on the NBA Cares, visit www.nba.com/nba_cares.