Raiders players read to West Oakland children in effort to promote literacy

Maria Sestito on December 14, 2018

These photos follow six players from the Oakland Raiders as they teamed up with the West Oakland Youth Center and First Book, a nonprofit that gives books to children in low-income neighborhoods, to bring free books to children during their “Rush to Read” event on Tuesday night. Children from the center were greeted by defensive tackle Clinton McDonald, who then introduced his teammates Johnny Townsend, Kyle Wilber, Ryan Yuracheck, Emmanuel Lamur and Frostee Rucker.

The players read Tiger in My Soup, a book by Kashmira Sheth, to the children in the form of a speed reading competition. The “winners” of the competition—which meant all the children—were able to take home two free books as well as a bag provided by First Book.

McDonald has a special interest in promoting literacy and, through his foundation, Light Into Darkness, he encourages children in grades K-12 to read at least 30 minutes every day. He calls it “Read 4:30.”

“We’re talking about putting hundreds of thousands of books in the hands of kids,” said Dan Stokes of First Book, the organization partnering with McDonald.

: The Oakland Raiders teamed up with the West Oakland Youth Center and First Book, a nonprofit that gives books to children in low-income neighborhoods, to bring free books to children on Tuesday night.

: Before surprising the children, the six players participating in the event— Clinton McDonald, Johnny Townsend, Kyle Wilber, Ryan Yuracheck, Emmanuel Lamur and Frostee Rucker—practiced reading Tiger in My Soup by Kashmira Sheth.

: The children, ranging in age from 5 to 15, were excited to have the football players at their community center, reading to them and playing a speed reading game with them.(Pictured: Arlester W.)

: Each player read to a different group of children, each one trying to read as many words as possible from the book in 19 seconds. Raiders linebacker Emmanuel Lamur said he couldn’t believe how quickly the time went.

: The teams were able to practice four or five times before competing with another. Here, defensive tackle Frostee Rucker practices with his group.

: After the teams competed, the children helped the players count how many words they had read within the time limit.

: Each team read between 70 and 120 words, which was just a few pages of the children’s book.

: Whether or not they had read the most words, each player celebrated with their group, high-fiving one other and clapping. Here, Johnny Townsend high-fives Corvell H.

: The children were very animated, yelling and screaming, as they realized another team had beat them in the reading challenge.

: That didn’t matter, though, because all the children were declared winners. Each of them was able to pick out two free books as well as a bag to take home with them. Here, Isiah and Jeremiah browse the titles.

: There were dozens of children’s books to choose from including “A Long Walk to Water” and “Because of Winn-Dixie.” Some children, including Isiah, went through the line two or three times to make sure they found the perfect book.

: Raiders defensive tackle Clinton McDonald has a special interest in promoting literacy. His foundation, Light Into Darkness, encourages children in grades K-12 to read at least 30 minutes every day.

: “We’re talking about putting hundreds of thousands of books in the hands of kids,” said Dan Stokes of First Book, the organization partnering with Clinton McDonald.