Media Center

     The entire third grade, 5 classrooms of children, sat on the floor in the Media Center Friday afternoon, November 9th, eagerly awaiting the visit of a local celebrity.   Suddenly the doors opened and in walked Joe Surgan, kicker for the Duke Football Team, along with Leslie Barnes, Director of Student-Athlete Development at Duke.  The room exploded with cheers as the third graders gave these Blue Devils a very warm Merrick-Moore welcome! 

     As part of the Read with the Blue Devilsreading program, Duke athletes will come out twice this year to read with our third graders.  Joe spoke to the children about the importance of reading in his life and theirs, then he read them A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon which they greatly enjoyed.  After the story, Joe and the children discussed the book, then the third graders were able to ask Joe questions.   He left an autographed message to be shared with them which brought on the cheers again.

     Many third graders are up to level 3 already in the Read with the Blue Devils program and have received bookmarks, Duke temporary tattoos, and Duke Football posters.  Keep reading, third graders!  See you at level 4!