The Education Day game is a day that is looked forward to each year by both the Lehigh women's basketball team and the Bethlehem Area School District. For a little more than a decade, Education Day is the most exciting home game of the season and is a chance for students to experience Division I college basketball while also learning things at the same time.
In 2021, the pandemic has changed many things, including this annual event. This year, Education Day presented by Red Robin went virtual.
The goal of this year's day, or more like the whole week, was to maintain the relationships with local elementary and middle schools who typically attend the game at Stabler Arena each year.
"When everything got canceled with having fans in the stands and people at games, I thought Education Day was one of the things we were really sad to see go," said head coach Sue Troyan. "We've been doing it for about 11 years now and I think it's a really important initiative exposing the Bethlehem Area School District to not only our program, but Lehigh University as a whole.
"We felt that it was important to do this year, although the kids couldn't be here in person, that we stay engaged with the schools where our girls were able to spend about 30 minutes with 12 schools, talking and then reading to kids. I got a lot of calls from people whose kids were a part of it that were just really appreciative of us doing it this year."
For the last week, members of the women's basketball team connected with classrooms over Zoom in seven separate virtual sessions. The student-athletes read a short basketball related story, did reading comprehension and opened up the discussion to a Q&A about the importance of attending school and playing sports.
"Education Day was still extremely rewarding this year; I wish we could have seen all of the kids in person, but it was still so nice to be able to connect with local kids via Zoom," said senior forward Mariah Sexe. "We were able to meet with them to read a story and answer any questions they had about being a collegiate student athlete. They were very eager to ask questions, which goes to show how important it is for us to be connected with the local community. We are lucky enough to be role models for these kids and I hope we instill confidence in them that they can do whatever they put their minds to."
The events of the week were tied to the Mountain Hawks' games against Lafayette during the weekend to encourage students to watch with their families.
"I think it was awesome to still be able to interact with the Bethlehem community through an online Education Day," sophomore wing Frannie Hottinger said. "The kids were excited, asked great questions and it was really fun to see them smile."
A worksheet featuring Lehigh women's basketball-centric lessons in subjects like math, geography and history was sent to all BASD Elementary School principals for students to participate through the week's classwork/homework.
Classrooms that participated had an opportunity to enter to win a free lunch for their classroom from Red Robin Restaurants, the title sponsor of the day. Each student involved with Education Day also received a coupon from Red Robin.
The Education Day initiative as whole in a normal year is always impactful and continuing to do it virtually in 2021 was something that principals and teachers like Courtney Wertman-Stambaugh, Principal at Fountain Hill Elementary School values greatly.
"Fountain Hill values the opportunity to participate in Education Day each year. Our students and staff always look forward to the event, so everyone was excited when we learned Education Day would still occur this year... just virtually," said Wertman-Stambaugh. "Traditions help us to create a sense of comfort. Knowing the Education Day tradition would continue allowed our students to feel encouraged and connected to Lehigh University, in the midst of a pandemic, but it also showcased Lehigh's commitment to the BASD community.
"The willingness to still provide an opportunity for students to connect with players, spoke volumes about what Lehigh University stands for and the character that Lehigh student-athletes possess."
Lehigh Athletics and the Lehigh women's basketball program look forward to future Education Days when students are able to come back to Stabler Arena safely.
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February 27, 2021 at 08:57AM
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Though virtual in 2021, annual Education Day just as impactful - Lehigh University Athletics - Lehigh University Athletics
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