Stories about Hawkeyes draw young readers

SOLON - Ann Bell knows there's nothing more exciting than a child reading.

As a reading recovery teacher with the Iowa City school district, Bell has made it her mission to help struggling readers find joy in the printed word. If she has to write her own stories to spark students' interest, she will.

She has.

In 2005, Bell founded Reading With Our Future Fans (RWOFF), which motivates readers with books centered around their favorite collegiate sports teams and athletes. The program was inspired by a young student who loved the Hawkeyes.

“Football was all he talked about,” Bell said.

She wrote a book about Iowa football. He loved it. So did the next group of students who saw it.

“They begged to read it,'” Bell said. “I knew I was onto something.”

Bell worked with the assistance of Fred Mims, the University of Iowa's associate athletics director of student services and compliance, to write the first book. Before she wrote more, Bell contacted an attorney to set up compliance guidelines with the NCAA. These guidelines enable RWOFF to use photographs of athletes with remaining eligibility.

The Iowa Student Athlete Advisory Committee (ISAAC) has adopted the reading program as a community service project. UI athletes take pictures for Bell, who uses the images to craft her stories. The partnership, Bell said, gives students an inside look at the life of a college athlete.

“Our athletes are thrilled to be part of the project,” ISAAC spokeswoman Nancy Parker said. “They love to see how what they do can be a story that captivates students.”

Bell has written nearly 30 books about UI sports. The books, geared toward readers ages 5 through 7, are classified into four levels: emergent, beginning, transitional and independent.

The program is expanding to include other universities. Bell has written three stories about the University of Michigan Wolverines. The RWOFF website will feature Iowa State University stories soon.

"We had one teacher tell us that her student love his copy of 'First Down, Iowa!' so much that he carries it everywhere," said Mike Bell, Ann's husband.

That story, he said, makes the program a success.