READING ABOVE PAR PROGRAM
Wells Fargo Internal Communications
Wayne Thompson
Flipping pages before a rapt audience of kindergarteners and first- and second-graders, PGA TOUR players J.J. Henry and Chad Campbell focused on an easier task than navigating the Wells Fargo Championship’s tough “Green Mile” finishing trio of holes.
They joined Charlotte Police Chief Rodney Monroe and Wells Fargo volunteer Tia Capers to read a children’s book to kids at Hidden Valley Elementary School as part of Wells Fargo’s Reading Above Par® childhood reading literacy effort.
An extension of Wells Fargo’s Reading First® program—which has sent volunteer readers from the company into 5,000 classrooms this year and donated more than 1 million books to classroom libraries nationwide since 2007—the Reading Above Par® program takes place in Charlotte during Wells Fargo Championship week.
This year’s read? CLICK, CLACK, MOO Cows That Type, by Doreen Cronin, with pictures by Betsy Lewin. It’s a barnyard tale of cold cows and hens who type out their electric-blanket demands to Farmer Brown. When he initially refuses, they go on strike.
“Cows that type,” Henry read before passing the story to Campbell, as about 80 boys and girls wearing cowboy hats giggled. “Hens on strike! Whoever heard of such a thing? How can I run a farm with no milk and no eggs! Farmer Brown was furious.”
In the story, typed letters fly back and forth between the two—delivered by a “neutral” duck—until Farmer Brown relents and exchanges blankets for eggs and milk, with one surprising twist at the end.
Taking a tip from a practice session with his grandson the night before, Monroe began the book by teaching the students to say “Moooooooooooo” each time they heard the key phrase, “Click, clack, Moo.” And that they did. Loudly.
‘Reading helps with everything’
When it was all over, Campbell was glad he’d joined fellow Texan Henry for the short trip from Quail Hollow Club to the school.
“I had a great time,” Campbell said. “Reading just helps with everything. Whether you read newspapers, magazines or books, there’s so much information out there to help you with everything in life and to broaden your mind.”
While golf books are a regular on his personal reading list, Campbell said his current page-turner is Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back by Texas Ranger baseball star Josh Hamilton. “I haven’t finished it yet,” he said, “but it’s a pretty good book.”
During their time at Hidden Valley, Henry and Campbell also answered a roomful of kid questions. Tim Hanlon, Wells Fargo’s head of philanthropy and the Wells Fargo Foundation, worked the sea of raised hands to assist:
What’s a sand trap?”
“Where you don’t want to be.”
“What’s the best thing about golfing?”
“Making birdies.”
“Do you get trophies?”
Campbell replied, “I think we both would like to get one this week.”
Golfing for good
Along with great golf, the educational impact of Charlotte’s sold-out PGA TOUR stop continues to be felt in the Queen City and beyond.
Since 2003, the tournament has provided its primary charity, Teach For America, more than $7 million to support its national and local efforts to send some of the top college graduates in the U.S. to work teaching for two years in inner-city and rural schools.
“ In another show of support, the Wells Fargo Championship will host the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ 100 elementary school Teacher of the Year winners and their guests this Saturday—complete with grounds passes, concession stand vouchers and $100 Wells Fargo Visa gift cards from the Wells Fargo Foundation for classroom supplies and other resources.
Before returning to the course, and before Hanlon donated a Wells Fargo plush pony and 720 books (enough for every student), Henry encouraged students to set their sights high and dream big dreams.
Growing up, he said, he watched professional golf on television and dreamed of joining the field one day. With plenty of hard work and determination—plus values like honesty, integrity and sportsmanship learned from golf and his parents—he achieved his dream. The lesson matched well with the school’s stated value of perseverance.
Encouraging students to do likewise is just one way Henry said he could pay that history forward.
“I had the opportunity to do this last year, was asked again and couldn’t wait to do it,” he said. He called his oldest son on the way to Hidden Valley to tell him about his school visit.
“As the father of two small boys myself, I know reading is one of those foundational skills,” Henry said. “What these kids learn today will ultimately help them when they’re adults and earning a living for themselves. They will know how to handle their money, raise their own children and read to their own kids.
“It all comes full circle. The skills they learn at this young age will be ingrained in them for the rest of their life.”
Stagecoach memories
After the PGA TOUR players left Hidden Valley, Wells Fargo Stagecoach driver David Helmuth gave another group of kids their first stagecoach rides. Henry and Campbell got theirs when they first arrived and recorded the experiences on their cell phones.
Both plan to share their stagecoach memories soon with their families.
“I’m going to forward this to my wife so she can show it to my boys and say, ‘Look at what daddy rode around in this morning,’ ” Henry said.
Added Campbell, “That was my first time on a stagecoach, and it’s a pretty cool experience. I filmed it so my kids could see the horses. The hardest part is getting up on top and then getting back down,” he said, smiling. “I’m not quite as agile as I used to be.”