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Friday, March 2, 2001

Bethune-Cookman basketballers give lift to reading program

By SEAN KERNAN | News-Journal Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH — "The Cat in the Hat," "Little Red Riding Hood," Mother Goose stories -- not exactly your standard college-level reading material.

But if anyone asks Bethune-Cookman College basketball players Jesse and Jerry Daniels what they enjoy about being in college, don't be surprised if the subject of preschool books comes up, because they often do some light reading for the benefit of young children.

As big as the towering twins are on the basketball court and around the B-CC campus, they are giants at nearby St. Timothy's Episcopal Learning Center on Lincoln Street.

Three or four times a week during the off-season, and as often as they can during basketball season, Jesse and Jerry make reading time special for the 3- and 4-year-olds.

"When the children first saw them they were overwhelmed because Jesse and Jerry are so tall," said Willa Smith, who directs the preschool program. "It didn't take the children long to learn who they are. They'll see them walking over and start yelling out, Jesse and Jerry are here.' The children can tell them apart without a problem."

It's not only the little kids who get something from this volunteer endeavor. The two brothers from the South Florida city of Hallandale find that in giving their time they truly receive something special from the children.

"It teaches me how to interact with kids, how they respond to me," Jesse said. "A lot of them like to climb on me because I'm so tall. I'm always being pulled in different directions. One of them wants my attention, and then another one wants it. I think that's why I do it. I just like working with kids, and they need someone to look up to."

The children not only want attention from the Daniels brothers, they want to give the twins some attention. The preschoolers are like a fan club to the 20-year-old sophomores who both play the forward and center positions.

"When we walk over there after practice, and they start chanting our names, it puts a smile on our faces," Jerry said.

The children literally and figuratively have someone to look up to because the twins are tall -- Jesse is 6-foot-8 and Jerry is 6-foot-9. And the example they set by volunteering makes them even taller in the eyes of the children, as well as the preschool program's teachers.

"They help with whatever we ask them, not just reading," Smith said. "Even during the basketball season they find time to come over. They both are real mannerly, very nice young men. They're definitely a credit to their mother. You can definitely see she had a profound influence on them."

Raised in a single-parent family that includes a sister who is two years older, the twins credit their mother, Gail Anderson, for teaching them such values as working hard in the classroom, treating people with respect and doing volunteer work.

"My mom's the love of my life," Jesse said. "She did better than any mom in the nation could have. A lot of people wouldn't know we came from a single-parent home. She was my mom and my dad."

Jesse said his godfather, Gerald Yancy, was a father figure that he could look up to the way the preschoolers look up to him and his brother.

"It's important to volunteer," Jerry said. "It's important to give something back to the community. This isn't where we grew up, but we still want to give back to the community. The kids look up to us because we are male role models. Not all of them have a male role model in their life."

The twins began volunteering at the preschool program as part of a class requirement. Both are education majors. Jesse is focusing on elementary education and Jerry is concentrating on exceptional student education (ESE). The requirement ended months ago, but the commitment continues.

The brothers said they enjoy volunteering and realize it will help them in their future careers as teachers.

Jerry was inspired to specialize as an ESE teacher because of his own struggles to learn. A problem that was identified when he was in middle school helped him develop learning strategies that, coupled with extra effort, resulted in his becoming an honor roll student at Hallandale High School.

Judging by what she has seen from the Daniels brothers, Smith believes the two college basketball players are headed in the right direction academically. She and other teachers at St. Timothy's have shared advice with the twins.

"You never know, an injury can put you out of sports in a moment," Smith said, recalling some of her counseling. "An education can't be taken away from you."

HICI Special Report — Sports: Hometown Heroes

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