Wofford College welcomed area school children from across Spartanburg and Cherokee Counties for the college's 5th annual "Growing Up Gold: Education Day" on Thursday, January 26, 2017 in conjunction with the Wofford women's basketball game against Chattanooga.
The goal of the event is to excite area children about college at an early age and provide an engaging, positive atmosphere to reinforce the learning taking place at their school. Many schools use this event as an opportunity to reward students for academic and behavioral excellence. The event is targeted at children in the third through fifth grades.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for our players to play in front of a great crowd," says Wofford women's basketball head coach Jimmy Garrity, who is in his first season leading the Terriers. "The students that come to our Education Day are always so enthusiastic and make it a tremendous atmosphere for our players!"
Growing Up Gold: Education Day is a free event presented by the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan and Wofford Sports Marketing. Children from each school participated in on-court promotions and pregame festivities including singing the National Anthem. Children also received bags with workbooks with information on the Terrier team plus activities including math, crossword, word search and inspirational messages from the Wofford women's basketball coaching staff. Each child also received a Wofford pencil, spirit shaker and various promotional items to take home as a gift.
More than 1,800 elementary students attended the event.