April 26, 2005

WACO, Texas - The Baylor Athletic Department hosted Baylor Day for 1,000 W.I.S.D. sixth graders from seven different schools Tuesday. The event, which encourages students to stay in school and attend college, was held at the Ferrell Center.

Lady Bears basketball coach, Kim Mulkey-Robertson, greeted the children once each school had arrived. She spoke about how important it is to make good grades, work hard at what you do and stay in school so that you can accomplish your goals.

Following the pep rally, the children broke up into color-coded groups and attended one of eight stations, each introducing a Baylor sport hosted by a Baylor coach and student-athletes. The coaches taught specific skills and demonstrated drills for each sport. The eight sports included basketball, softball, track, football, baseball, soccer, volleyball and tennis.

After the interaction sessions, the students went back to the Ferrell Center for lunch and a closing ceremony. H-E-B, Pizza Hut and Dr Pepper provided each child a free lunch.

The closing ceremony included words of encouragement from Lady Bear basketball players Chanelle Fox, Chisa Ononiwu and Angela Tisdale. Baylor football player Maurice Linguist and songleader Tiffany Harrison also spoke to the students. Chanelle Fox stressed the importance of making good grades and listening to your teachers while Maurice Linguist spoke about being a team player and how important it is to work together to accomplish the same goal.

Tiffany Harrison asked the children if they have goals and if anyone has not supported their dreams.

"I'm studying to be a doctor and all my life, I have had some people tell me that I am not smart," she said. "I know I am smart. You are, too, so believe in yourself!"

The ceremony concluded with video highlights from the 2004 Men's Tennis NCAA Championship, the 2005 Women's Basketball NCAA Championship, the 2004 Olympics featuring gold medalist Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson and the Baylor vs. Texas A&M football game.

This is just one example of how Baylor athletes and coaches are involved in many Waco community relations programs. For more information, please call Baylor Athletic Marketing at 710-3073 or log on to Baylor's official athletic website: www.baylorbears.com.