Sports

Westerwinds give back to community

Westerwinds give backThe Western Illinois softball team members took time of out their preseason schedule to mentor a class of first graders once a month at Lincoln Elementary School in Macomb.

The Westerwinds adopted the first-grade class of Anna Robertson ‘05, and made five trips to Lincoln to mentor the young students. During the hour-and-a-half visits, seven players including Colleen Biebel, sophomore pre-elementary education major from Alsip (IL); Ashley Campbell, freshman marketing major from Indianapolis (IN); Jamie Goss, freshman accounting major from Indianapolis (IN); Courtney Jacobson, senior early childhood education major from Yorba Linda (CA), Nikki Marinec, sophomore mathematics major from Alsip (IL); Anna Nelson, sophomore pre-business marketing major from Burlington (IA), Katie Rogers, sophomore athletic training major from Crystal Lake (IL); and Westerwinds head coach Holly Van Vlymen ‘00 MS ‘08 read to the students, helped with classroom projects and taught softball, bringing in softball equipment for a hands-on experience.

In addition to spending time at Lincoln, eight players including Biebel, Kamren Ferguson, senior graphic communications major from Clinton (IL); Lauren Furgala, junior English education major from Downers Grove (IL); Beth Golitko, sophomore kinesiology major from LaGrange (IL); Michelle Neubauer, sophomore athletic training major from O’Fallon (MO); Lori Pankratz, junior pre-physical therapy major from Bettendorf (IA); Michelle Prieto sophomore elementary education major from Chicago (IL); and Erin Schlotfeldt sophomore kinesiology major from DeWitt (IA), spent time volunteering at the Humane Society of McDonough County. The players went seven times last semester and spent time caring for the animals and walking the dogs for an hour and a half during each visit.

The Westerwinds are planning on having the class visit the Western Illinois campus during the Spring 2009 season.

Sports   |   1  |  2  |  3  | More... |