Members of Abington’s football team and cheerleading squad took part in the first Reading Super Bowl at Overlook Elementary School on Friday. To view photos of the event, please visit the Football Photo Gallery.
By Mary Jane Souder
Philip Gore didn’t play in Sunday’s Super Bowl, but the Abington senior and 23 of his teammates on the football squad were elevated to celebrity status when they took part in the first Reading Super Bowl at Overlook Elementary School on Friday.
“The neatest thing is seeing how excited the kids are,” Gore said. “They think you’re a superstar.
“I asked the kids who they wanted to win the Super Bowl, and one kid said, ‘the 49ers,’ and I said, ‘Oh no, the Ravens.’ The girl next to him said, ‘You play for the Ravens?’ It was a lot of fun.”
Joining the football players were representatives of the cheerleading squad, and they were met with an equally enthusiastic response.
“It was very exciting,” senior captain Jasmine O’Hannon said. “I saw the joy in the kids’ eyes when they saw us. They just lit up.
“You almost felt like a celebrity. It just made me feel really good, and I thought the kids got a lot out of it.”
It was hard to tell who enjoyed it the most, but Friday’s Reading Super Bowl was an undisputed success for everyone on all sides.
“Honestly, I think it’s awesome,” senior Dylan Collins said. “As soon as I walked in the class, everyone was so excited.
“You see the smile on their faces when you walk in. Everybody is listening when you’re reading, paying full attention. They have millions of questions. One of the kids asked what it is like being on the football team and do you have to keep your grades up.
“As soon as you ask them a question, everyone’s hand goes up. I was excited to see how excited they were. The look on their faces was just priceless.”
The event was the brainchild of Overlook librarian Elisha Gee, who enlisted the help of Abington librarian/assistant athletic director Dawn McGee.
“She approached me in August at our back-to-school meeting,” McGee said. “We really have been working on it since then.
“Elisha made it about so much more than just reading. She made it about the community and giving back. The high school kids feel so good about themselves helping out. It’s a celebration of reading but also the connectedness in the school community – being role models, giving back.”
After brief instructions from Gee, the football players and cheerleaders headed off to the classrooms. The football players handed out football cards, which – appropriately – included their favorite children’s book while the cheerleaders gave students bookmarks with a photo as well as their favorite books. Then it was time to read to the eager youngsters.
“You can see how happy the kids are to have high school kids in the classroom,” said Overlook teacher Brad Wilkins
, himself a 1991 graduate of Abington and former teammate of Sorber’s on the football squad. “It’s all around great. It benefits these kids, and it benefits the kids that come and read to them.”
Junior Christian Werner had the unique opportunity to read to his younger brother’s class.
“These kids look up to us as a football team of the township,” he said. “If they see that we like to read, they’ll want to read.”
Werner read Trouble on the T-Ball Team, although Green Eggs and Ham is his hands-down favorite children’s book.
“My mom used to read it to me all the time when I was a kid, and I love it,” he said. “This is awesome. I think it will inspire the kids to want to hopefully read more, and that’s what the whole thing was about.”
Gore also has fond memories of his children’s book, Star Girl.
“I read it in eighth grade, and I’ll never forget it,” he said. “I got student of the week the week we read that book.”
O’Hannon read The Little Engine That Could and acknowledged the kids created a good atmosphere.
“When we came into the room, they were quiet and nice,” she said.“I asked them, ‘Does anybody like trains?’
“One little boy said, ‘I have…I have…’ He just kept pausing and stopping, and his face started to turn red. He was trying to tell us about his toy train at home, but he was so excited. We had to tell him to slow down.”
Deja Bradley, a senior cheerleader, read Horton Hears a Hoot.
“They were so enthusiastic about asking us questions about cheerleading and football,” she said. “When we were reading the books, they were so attentive to everything we were doing. It was 
really nice to see.
“When I was presented this opportunity, I said I really wanted to do it because nothing like this has ever been done before.”
The Reading Super Bowl didn’t begin and end with the players and cheerleaders reading in the classrooms. Winners of an essay contest that Gee initiated at Overlook had lunch with the football players and cheerleaders. The theme of the essay contest was teamwork, and winners also received tickets to Friday night’s Hoops for Hope/Coaches vs. Cancer boys’ basketball game against William Tennent.
As the Overlook students left the cafeteria, they were on the receiving end of high fives as they walked through a tunnel created by the cheerleaders and football players.
“You know what was fun for me was going around and seeing the different players of mine and the cheerleaders and seeing how they interacted with the kids,” Sorber said. “It doesn’t surprise me. We have a great senior class.
“They’re really great kids, and that’s why we’ve been successful. We have not only had great football players but, more importantly, kids with great character who are willing to do something like this.”
The Abington coach – who also gave his share of autographs – credited Gee and McGee for making the event a reality.
“They’re people that really put a lot of time and effort into organizing this,” he said. “Both our cheerleaders and players have been extremely excited.”
The Abington football players and cheerleaders also contributed to Overlook’s soup collection. Over 500 cans of soup were collected that will be donated to a local food pantry.
“One of the high school kids said, ‘Can we do this every Friday? Can we do this at every elementary school?’” McGee said. “We’ll have to see what we can do. Everyone seems to really enjoy this.”
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