Contact: Heath Shackleford
The last seconds tick off the clock as she receives a pass at half-court, turns and dribbles toward the basket. Just before the buzzer sounds, she hurls the ball from the top of the key and lifts the team to victory.
This scenario could easily be associated with Jemmye Ann Helms of Mathiston, a senior guard for Mississippi State University's women's basketball team. But what might go unnoticed are the accomplishments of Helms and other university athletes far from the courts and playing fields. These are won in the grade-school classrooms and playgrounds of Starkville.
Through the student M-Club, Helms and other athletes work to promote community involvement.
The M-Club is composed of athletes who have lettered in their respective sports. Recently, the organization expanded its membership to include team managers, trainers and video staff.
"It gives the athletes a chance to make a name for themselves in the public outside of their athletic reputation," said president Colby M. Swann of Hartselle, Ala. "It also forms bonds between the students and the community, and even among athletes from different sports."
Swann, a senior communication/public relations major and a manager for the varsity football team, said the organization averages about 70 members each school year.
The M-Club participates in various community beautification and school spirit projects, such as painting Dawg paws on the roads surrounding Scott Field. But the primary focus is to help children, Swann said.
Each year, approximately 25 to 30 athletes help tutor grade-school children from Emerson, Overstreet, Sudduth, and Ward elementary schools in Starkville. The tutors focus on any subject in which the child needs support, but also emphasize the importance of school.
"The most important thing is to put the emphasis on education," said Jemmye Ann Helms, a physical education major. "By going into the schools, we show the children not only the benefits of being an athlete, but also the rewards of excelling in academics."
"We talk to them about their dreams," explains football team linebacker Paul V. Lacoste of Jackson. "We listen to their ambitions and encourage them to work to achieve goals."
A senior physical education major, Lacoste said one of his most touching experiences came when the team visited children in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital prior to a game.
"We gave them Mississippi State hats and signed autographs," Lacoste said. "Even though they were sick, they were all smiles while we were there."
M-Club members also share strong ties with the Palmer Home for Children in Columbus. In addition to regular visits with the children, the athletes sponsor a spring softball tournament and donate proceeds to the orphanage.
"Sometimes people think athletes don't give back to the community," Helms said. "It's true that we don't have a lot of time, but through our work with the M-Club, we make time."
Adds Lacoste: "It's special to see the impact we are able to have on some of the children and it's a good feeling to be able to help them."