BC Basketball Coaches Visit Houston Classroom

By DJ Adams

Collegiate coaches are obviously visible members of any college community, showing themselves most frequently on the court or in the media, for example. What many people tend to forget, though, are how these adults impact the world with their actions as role models that are largely unrelated to how well their respective team performs in competition.

Steve Donahue, in response to a request from Amy Stabile, a current Teach for America employee and BC ’09, visited a Houston public elementary school along with three other coaches to teach children how to read, as well as speak with them about BC and the basketball program.

How awesome is this excerpt from an e-mail Amy herself sent to us?

As many of you know, the final four was in Houston.  On a whim, I emailed Gene Di Filippo, the athletic director for BC, and asked if any coaches or players were in town and if they would come to read to my class.  Surprisingly, Mr. Di Filippo emailed me back right away and forwarded it to the coaches. On Friday, my classroom hosted 4 of the BC Men’s Basketball coaches for an hour.

I have to say, this visit was probably one of the proudest moments I will have as both a BC alum and a teacher.  I was so amazed with the enthusiasm the coaches brought, the way the interacted with my students, the joy and praise they gave my kids, and most importantly that they took time out to come speak to a class full of kids they didn’t know, taught by a teacher they didn’t know. The coaches came in and immediately talked with the kids, sat with them, read with them, asked questions, and listened as my kids explained everything in my room.  They listened to my kids read and seemed genuinely impressed with how smart my class is.  It was amazing to hear the positive things they had to say about my students and their progress as well as their ambition to ALL (legit all) go to BC.   Mr. Donahue then spoke about developing good habits and creating strong worth ethics as a kindergartener so that those habits can carry you through as you get older and the work gets harder.    And the best part according to my kids, they left giving hugs and posters (my kids were more impressed with the hugs but loved the posters!).

My kids were also incredible on Friday.  It was amazing to see the pride they took in their work and how excited they were to share all of their successes, and their failures.  Tremaine, a student who is currently repeating kindergarten, took out his conduct calendar and explained to Coach Joe that one day he got a P because he didn’t follow directions.  He then said, “Coach I come to school to grow my brain so I can go to Boston College”.  Hearing this statement was the greatest thing ever.  Tremaine was so proud of himself, and if he understands why we go to school, I know everyone in my class does. And most importantly, he shared it with someone he idolizes–and that person responded with some great words.

It is nice to know that people who I don’t know and who don’t know my students will take the time out to carve a memory.  My students are still talking about it and I know that they will remember this for a long time.

Regardless of whether these young children remember Donahue and his assistants or not, this is a wonderful story. It shows just how large the heart of this man is, and to what lengths he will go to see someone succeed. It’s great to see that the coaches didn’t simply go and play basketball, but hammered home the importance of education. Someday when an impressive scholar from this underprivileged school becomes a BC grad and gives back in the same manner, we will be able to smile in reminiscence of how a few Eagles reached out when he really didn’t have to.

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