Marsha Kerper made good on her commitment to the students at Madison. She promised to throw out the first pitch at an Iowa Cubs game if her students read collectively 160,000 minutes as a group exercise in one month.

Prior to the game between the Isotopes and the I-Cubs, over 200 parents and students were rewarded to delicious tacos in Madison's cafeteria in celebration of the event. In addition, Madison used special funds to purchase tickets for students from grades 3-5 and their parents to attend the game free of charge. The school purchased copies of my Principal Park book for these same students which complemented the literacy event nicely.

The excitement and anticipation for the star pitcher from Madison was such it didn't take much for me to jumpstart the students about the importance of living out their dreams. I also wore my baseball uniform just like most of all the other attendees who wore Cubs uniforms. After my speech, I had a mother hold me and tell me that my speech moved her to tears. She had been trying her best to encourage her daughter to strive to do her best and she felt my speech helped to confirm her same message.

While Mrs. Kerper was whisked away to the stadium, I stayed behind at Madison to talk to parents about strategies they could use in setting purposeful goals for their children. By the time I arrived at the stadium, Mrs. Kerper had already thrown out the first pitch and she was quite pleased with her bullet strike. She had hoped I could have joined her; however in truth this was her moment for her students and while I'd have loved to have thrown out a first pitch, this was Mrs. Kerper's moment to shine to the delight of her deserved students/readers.

I enjoyed the game except for the lopsided score in favor of the Isotopes. Like most fans, I took advantage of the dollar hot dogs. Principal Park is a beautiful stadium and one that more Des Moines residences should take advantage of. Where can you go for dollar hot dogs? Promotional tickets of one dollar and even regular priced tickets of 4 or 5 dollars? A family of four could have a nice time at the game for a lot less than going to an amusement park and the I-Cubs are currently in first place. I give Mr. Bernabe credit for offering so much for such a little price to I-Cubs fans.

At 8:00 p.m. we loaded the two buses and I said my fond farewells to a great group. On my way out to my car I couldn't help but notice the many metal trailers surrounding the school including the many low-income brick dwellings. At least this night these students and parents were given a first-class glimpse of the American dream. All any of us want is to share in the wealth of this great nation and to feel a sense of normalcy - which is what we can share in together at a baseball park. What I saw at Madison were proud Americans willing to try hard and these proud citizens counted on these skilled teachers to help teach their children how to help better themselves through education - not a hand out per se, rather a boost up just like immigrants before them had received.