Just as the WKU Softball program has made major strides this season in securing a place at the top of their new conference home in Conference USA, so has the Big Red's Readers program in the Bowling Green community in becoming a mainstay in area elementary schools.
Big Red's Readers is a donation-driven program that puts stuffed animals into the hands of first and second grade students in the Bowling Green School District. These stuffed animals are given to the students to be used as "reading buddies" throughout the school year. Each child "adopts" their buddy and reads to them for a minimum of 15 minutes each day.
The program got a major boost earlier this year to allow it to reach new heights when WKU softball assistant coach K.C. Boldt, the program's founder at WKU, helped the team earn a $20,000 grant from WKU Sisterhood.
"It is such an honor and blessing to have been chosen as a grant recipient this year for what we believe is a great program for our student-athletes and WKU," said Boldt after earning the grant. "In partnering with the WKU Sisterhood, we now have the opportunity to impact over 2,000 elementary students each year by providing them a tool in which they can improve their reading skills. I am excited to get Big Red's Readers started, and we are looking forward to impacting the future academic success of children across the Bowling Green and Warren County communities."
Boldt first got involved with a program similar to Big Red's Reader as a student-athlete at Valparaiso University. Her head coach, Randy Schneider, started a program with stuffed animals as counseling tools in Gary, Ind., called "I Need a Hug."
The Valpo squad continues to run the program, as after 10 years the team has worked with over 3,300 students and 170 classrooms in three counties according to Boldt. A four-year letterwinner and Second-Team All-Horizon League honoree for the Crusaders, Boldt chaired the program as a junior and senior, helping the team with fundraising drives to collect the animals.
The program that Boldt helped run at Valpo actually helped her get her second coaching job at the collegiate level as it served as a key part of the interview process when Boldt sat down with WKU softball coach Amy Tudor.
"When I interviewed to work with (Coach Amy Tudor) at IPFW, beyond all the softball stuff and the coaching qualifications, something that I had a big involvement with at Valpo was community service," said Boldt. "As soon as I mentioned (the program) from (Valpo), she loved every minute of it and all the details. When we came down to WKU, she asked how we could incorporate it into WKU Athletics and to me it was the easiest way to reach into the community to bridge our student-athletes with the schools."
At Valpo, two players were selected to run the program, teaching them fundamentals of running a business while also serving the community.
"You were kind of the CEO of (the program)," said Boldt. "We did everything from marketing to fundraising drives. For me, it was a big resume builder and it taught me the business side of things. It allowed me to connect with business and deal with suppliers, donors and different people in the community that I wouldn't have dealt with if I wasn't involved in the program."
Boldt has taken the reigns in establishing the program at WKU, but it will soon be WKU Softball players that are trying to hit a home run on the diamond and in the community.
"Next year, we are moving forward so that the players are running it here," said Boldt. "It will be a leadership role for two of our players. They are going to step into my shoes and fill the role I have been doing... It has been great for them to get in the schools and build relationships with the schools. It is a fun thing to do."
Thanks in large part to the grant from WKU Sisterhood, the program is firmly in place as a key aspect of the WKU Softball program's efforts off the field to be part of the Bowling Green community.
"With that grant, (we are established) for two or three years," said Boldt. "We are going to continue to market it so that we can get the word out and get more people involved with it."
