School Assembly Honors Horton

Aug. 24, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma gymnast Jonathan Horton was the guest of honor at a Friday morning assembly at Norman's Cleveland Elementary School.

Over 500 students and teachers were on hand to congratulate Horton on his selection to the 2007 U.S. World Championships Team and wish him luck at the competition.

This year's World Championships will be held Sept. 1-9 in Stuttgart, Germany, and Horton and the rest of the American delegation depart for the event on Saturday.

"It's really cool to have 500 little kids who look up to you and think that you're the greatest," Horton said. "Just knowing that they're there to support you and having all the teachers behind you is really nice. It helps you compete because you know you have that kind of support."

The 2007 World Championships serve as the qualifying event for the 2008 Olympics. The top 12 teams at the World Championships will advance to Beijing.

"All of these kids know what the Olympics are, and to know someone who is on the cusp of going to the Olympics is really cool for them," said Cleveland music teacher Regina Bell.

After watching highlights of his high bar routine, Horton thanked the students for their support and talked about the importance of working hard in school and setting priorities.

He also made a generous offer for one lucky Cleveland student.

"If we win a medal, I'll let one of you wear it around all day," Horton told the assembly.

The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team has a long partnership with Cleveland Elementary. Head coach Mark Williams, a former English teacher, and Bell created a "Partners in Education" program which allows the OU gymnasts to make weekly visits to the school.

The student-athletes help teachers with day-to-day activities such as reading, grammar skills and math exercises. They also get to spend time talking with students about what it's like to be an OU student-athlete.

"It's neat because we can support them because they're supporting us," Bell said. "Kids are finicky - they don't cheer for just anybody. They know how much love the guys on the team have shown them and they want to give it back."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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