Bourne High School hockey sophomores Nate McDonnell, left, and Cooper Gobeil read to students in Ms. Bonn’s kindergarten class at Bournedale Elementary during the special reading event yesterday. (Photo courtesy Bourne Public Schools) 
Bourne High hockey players James Crowell (8th grade), Luca Finton (freshman) and Guy Toti (8th grade) read to Mrs. Hawkes’ kindergarten class during the special reading event. (Photo courtesy Bourne Public Schools) 
Members of both the boys and girls hockey teams visited 15 different classrooms at BES on Thursday, Dec. 3 to meet and read to students in grades Pre-K to 2. (Photo courtesy Bourne Public Schools) Members of the BHS boys hockey team, junior captain Owen Surrette, sophomore student ambassador Ty Kelley and 8th grader Drew Kelley, read to students in Tammy Kelley’s class at BES. (Photo courtesy Bourne Public Schools) 
Boys Hockey Assistant Coach Andrew Arki speaks to BES students during the event. (Photo courtesy Bourne Public Schools) 
A selection of the books read to BES students Thursday. (Photo courtesy Bourne Public Schools)
BOURNE — Superintendent Kerri Anne Quinlan-Zhou and Bournedale Elementary School Principal Elizabeth Carpenito are pleased to report that Bourne High School hockey players paid a special visit to BES students yesterday.
Members of both the boys and girls hockey teams visited 15 different classrooms at BES on Thursday, Dec. 3 to meet and read to students in grades Pre-K to 2. Teachers of specialist classes such as STEAM and visual art also welcomed the student-athletes to read to the younger grades.
The event was spearheaded by BES first grade teacher Tammy Kelley, who has two boys on the high school hockey team. She lives next door to a first grader in town, and her young neighbor loves spending time with her sons and is always asking them about the hockey team. It wasn’t long before more of the neighbor’s friends started visiting, and it became clear to Kelley just how much the younger children in town look up to high school athletes.
In her own first grade class, Kelley started discussing role models with her students, and student-athletes would get brought up as well.
“Younger students really do look up to the older kids, and think of them as celebrities,” Kelley said. “I knew I had to find a way to get these high school athletes into our younger classrooms, because it would be such a great experience for everyone involved.”
Kelley approached Bourne Athletic Director Scott Ashworth, head hockey coach Frank Carpenito, Principal Liz Carpenito and BHS Principal Amy Cetner about having high school athletes read to BES students, and everyone embraced the idea immediately. Kelley then floated the idea by BES staff and the high schoolers, and the event quickly came together.
For this first year, Kelley decided to select books that were specifically about hockey. Titles included “Z is for Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet,” “Goodnight Hockey,” “The Boy in Number Four” (inspired by Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr) and “The Magic Hockey Stick.”
A total of 13 boys from the BHS team, as well as four girls from the Bourne-Mashpee-Wareham/Old Rochester Regional (BMW-ORR) team, took part in the event.
Bournedale Elementary has a focus on promoting early literacy. The event was also a great fit to promote high school hockey in Bourne leading up to the teams’ biggest game of the year versus rival Sandwich High School. The annual boys “Canal Cup” matchup is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. at the Gallo Ice Arena in Bourne. The BMW-ORR game will take place at 7 p.m. that evening, and the “Pup Cup” game will follow the girls game.
Kelley said the timing of the reading event with the Canal Cup makes perfect sense.
“The players look forward to facing off against Sandwich every year, and it means a lot for them to take the time to read to the younger students and get them interested in the sport of hockey,” Kelley said. “It’s also a great opportunity to remind the student-athletes that when they are out on the ice they have so many little eyes watching them and looking up to them. It teaches them that what they do matters, and it emphasizes the importance of always exhibiting teamwork and showing respect for their opponents, their coaches, and members of their community.”
Now that the first reading day has passed, the district is already looking forward to building on the event next year.
“We are really hoping to make this reading day an annual tradition in the days leading up to the Canal Cup,” Principal Carpenito said. “It’s such a terrific way to showcase our student-athletes giving back to their school community and being positive role models for younger students. We thank all of the teachers and students involved for making the day such a success, especially Tammy Kelley for all her planning and hard work. Best of luck to our boys and girls hockey teams this coming weekend!”
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