Cameron Cooper is used to leading his team on the football field, but he wasn’t sure about leading student-athletes in a new challenge.
“I wasn’t so sure at first about the book club,” Cooper said. “I just had a lot going on, but then I kept thinking about it and was like, ‘ok, this is something we could do.’”
The quarterback and wide receiver for Poteet High School in the Mesquite ISD is talking about the book club that he and his teammates formed in the school’s library. It’s an idea he got from their school librarian, Amianne Bailey.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that they joined because he [Cooper] asked them to,” Bailey said. “I don’t know if I would have gotten the same response if I had asked them to join. So, I think it just shows the impact of peer-to-peer reading and using that influence.”
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Influence that Cooper always knew he had on the field, but was a bit surprised, in a good way, to see the influence he had off of it.
“It feels good. It’s helping me to help them understand that they can do other things, not just on the field. They can focus outside of sports and do something better with their life,” Cooper said.
He said his drive to help others has been fueled by the support others have poured into him.
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“Honestly, just my parents. They keep me on the right path, staying hard on me, whether it’s in school, sports, whatever the case is, they want a better lifestyle for me. So I’m not going to take that for granted,” Cooper said.
Before the 2023-2024 school year ended, they were reading Chris Bosh’s book, “Letters to a Young Athlete.” It’s a book where the NBA hall of famer and native North Texan shared his story of triumph and self-discovery. Pivotal lessons for students in high school like Cooper and his peers.
“I honestly feel more as if it’s a starting journey of something that can probably continue ongoing,” Cooper said.
Bailey is just happy she was able to give these students a push towards something that would not just better their education, but also their relationships with each other.
“I want to break down barriers with books and libraries. Some kids think that certain types of kids read, that reading is only for nerds or smart people or whatever. Reading is for everyone,” Bailey said.
Even though Cooper graduated, he is hoping, along with Bailey, that the book club will continue.
