Wake Forest hosts camp at Sandilands Primary

Although the main reason the Wake Forest men’s basketball team came to The Bahamas was to participate in the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s (BBF) Summer of Thunder exhibition series, the Demon Deacons still found time to do some community service yesterday at the Sandilands Primary School.

With the support of Mission Educate Bahamas (MEB) and Wendy’s, the Demon Deacons held a mini-camp for 40 elementary school students. They also spent some time in the classroom with the kids as well, using MEB’s TUneIn to Read program and singing with them.

The camp also featured t-shirt giveaways, autograph signing and lunch for the students. Wake Forest ended their time at Summer of Thunder on Thursday night, but the team wanted to interact more with the local community before heading back to North Carolina.

“Since we already completed our scheduled games we saw this as an opportunity for our guys to see different parts of the island, but most importantly, it was a chance to connect with some kids and put a smile on their face,” said head coach Danny Manning. “We really enjoyed our time here, because it was also a bonding trip for our team as well. So now we hope that the chemistry we built here carries over into the season.” Sandilands Primary is one of the latest schools to incorporate MEB’s TuneIn program into their curriculum. School principal Esther Cartwright said the program is one that can truly elevate the literacy levels in younger students, and that she appreciates MEB and Wendy’s for affording the kids the opportunity to meet and greet with the players. “It was a delight to have Wake Forest University here. This kind of exposure is great for our students,” she said. “We want to thank Wendy’s for the charity and for making this possible.

“This is an opportunity that most students would never have if it wasn’t for this program, and I think the impact from the visit will go beyond just our school, but throughout the entire Fox Hill community and The Bahamas at large.”

The TuneIn program is a reading program that is monitored using computers and headphones. It helps children improve their reading in a very short period of time, as much as one or two grade levels.

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