The crowd between 50 and 65 students at Castelar Street Elementary School broke into a roaring cheer. Los Angeles Sparks guard Noelle Quinn turned to her teammate forward Ebony Hoffman and let out a taunting laugh. The master of ceremonies had just asked the students to cheer if they liked UCLA ““ the response was twice loud as the reaction to USC.
Quinn graduated from UCLA in 2007 while Hoffman graduated from USC in 2004 ““ it was clear the Bruins won this round.
“It was nice to see some UCLA pride,” Quinn said with a smile. “They seemed like a pretty smart bunch, so I wasn’t too surprised.”
Both Quinn and Hoffman were at Castelar for a literacy event called “Reading is the Way Up” where the two women talked about their experiences growing up in Los Angeles and how important reading and getting an education was to their overall success.
“This has been an absolutely amazing opportunity to come out here and speak to the kids,” Hoffman said. “It can be really powerful to have someone who plays professional basketball come back and tell you how important getting an education is and how big of a role that played in our lives as basketball players.”
This was the second event put on by the Sparks where they had players go out into the community and speak with Los Angeles youth as an attempt to promote literacy at inner-city schools.
“Having an education in general improves your life so much,” Quinn said. “Being able to read and be literate is huge because it expands your options exponentially.”
Quinn was drafted 4th overall by the Minnesota Lynx, making her the highest ever drafted women’s basketball player out of UCLA. After spending two years in Minnesota, Quinn was traded to the Sparks in 2009, returning to her hometown.
“Being able to come out here really made me feel like my life and my experiences are actually worth something, and to be able to share that with kids from my hometown where I was raised is truly a blessing,” Quinn said. “That’s what life is about.”
Thus far, Quinn has solidified herself as one of the top players on the Sparks, averaging 7.9 points, 2.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game over the past three years.
The Sparks’ season ended last month and while most WNBA players go overseas, she decided to stay in Los Angeles and help promote literacy amongst inner-city elementary schools.
The event itself lasted for about an hour and a half where a moderator asked both women questions about their lives. Then they opened up the floor to the students where there was an interesting blend of queries pertaining to basketball, fame and, of course, education.
“The kids were all really well-behaved and receptive about what we were talking about,” Quinn said. “It was great that they were able to ask their own questions and have their own voices heard.”
Cheuk Choi, the priancipal of Castelar and a UCLA alum, believed his students got a lot of value out of having the players speak at the event.
“Having these two young ladies come to our school really helped our kids see that there are other avenues and other options for them as long as they get an education,” Choi said.
The school is located in the middle of Chinatown and has a very high population of Asian students that tend to be sheltered from other cultures. Because of this, Choi believes it gives the students an excellent opportunity to learn more about other people and cultures.
“My children need to be exposed to different professions and various people who have had all kinds of different experiences,” Choi said. “Our goal is to have different activities and bring in other people like Noelle and Ebony, who have had amazing life experiences and can really help our students see the importance of education.”