About 50 Central Area children received a special treat yesterday when they were honored for "doing the right thing." They got to meet three Seattle SuperSonics and have their pictures taken with the professional basketball players.

"Tall dudes!" exclaimed one boy after standing by players Rashard Lewis, Jerome James and Olumide Oyedeji, and assistant coach Dwane Casey.

To participate in the event organized by the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, the kindergartners through high-school graduates had to write a short essay on the theme of what doing the right thing means to them.

The event was part of the civil-rights organization's African-American academic achievement campaign.

Between workshops on computers, African-American doll-making, medicine and science, and time management, the young people gathered in the cafeteria of Bailey Gatzert Elementary School to meet the athletes.

Lewis was the primary focus of attention, even if students couldn't always put the name with the face.

Sonics fan Qiar Dennis, 10, a fifth-grader at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, said his favorite team member is "the one with the black thing on his head" — the one otherwise known as Rashard Lewis.

After the photo session, teenagers in the Urban League's leadership-training program, the Youth Congress, adjourned to a workshop led by Casey on time management and other success tools.

The youths declared career goals that included computer animation, pediatrics, engineering, photography and law.

Casey likened students' goal-setting to the goals the Sonics carry into their practices and games.

"Each and every game," he said, "we have an idea of what we want to do, how we want to play a team, who we want to get the ball, who we want to trap. It's like going to school. You want to have an idea who you want to be."

The coach and the students talked about the value of job shadowing, internships, going to college, making a good first impression and cultivating relationships.

When meeting someone, Casey told Garfield High School sophomore and future lawyer Seneca Mitchell, "You want to shake their hand, look them in the eye and say, 'I'm Seneca Mitchell and I'm going to law school.' "

The wrong kind of introduction, he noted, would be to look at the ground and mumble, "I'm Seneca. Wussup?"

Since starting their Youth Congress training, the dozen or so members have had workshops on leadership, reaching goals and dealing with stereotypes. They also have tutored younger children and delivered Christmas presents to children from poor families.

Via

Oklahoma City

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