FOOTBALL PLAYERS TEAMING UP TO MENTOR GRADE-SCHOOL KIDS - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

SAUGUS - Zach Summers leaned over to look at the small boy'spaper and helped him correct a word.

'It's a-c-h at the end, even though it sounds like k,' heexplained, helping him write 'stomach' for his poem about bodyparts.

The quarterback for the Saugus High School football team could bespending his Friday afternoons scrimmaging or playing video games,but between 2 and 3 p.m., he and 14 of his teammates help studentsat Bouquet Elementary School with everything from writing to artprojects to games and reading.

'Coach (Jason Bornn) said he wasn't forcing anyone to do it,'Summers said. 'We all wanted to help.'

The gridiron stars made their first visit to the campus on April29 and spent the afternoon getting to know the kids.

'They asked us about ourselves and shared a lot of stuff aboutthemselves, like what their favorite animals are,' Summers said.

'They wanted to know how we were in elementary school,' saidJustin Keehne, who plays center for the Centurions. 'They asked alot of questions about how we made the transition from elementaryschool to high school. They don't want to know much about football.

'We're here to tell them that when they get to high school, theyshould work hard if they want to succeed, even if they don't playsports.'

Receiver Wes Campbell said his math skills were tested when thekids asked for help the previous week. 'We're here to give themanything they need,' he said.

Renee Anderson welcomed the boys into her third-grade classroom,where pupils were working on their body-part poems. 'They were soexcited to know the boys were coming back,' she said as the boysworked with small groups.

''My legs are made of noodles,'' Zach read aloud. 'How do youwalk?' he asked the boys sitting at his feet.

Across the room, T.J. Gregg, a Bouquet Canyon Elementary alumnus,drew a picture for Kayla Eaton, 9, and Kailee Roth, 8.

'Let's start with the head and work down,' he said.

'We don't have a stomach!' Kailee said.

'Let's work on this some more,' Gregg suggested.

In Debbie McGreevey's fourth-grade class, pupils were in themidst of publishing newspapers about themselves. In the middle ofthe classroom, Keehne and Terence Manley were surrounded byyoungsters clamoring for their attention.

'It's so much more fun when the boys check their work than when ateacher checks it,' McGreevey joked. 'It's a real positiveexperience for everyone to have them here.'

'Make sure she can't see the writing,' Manley coached as hehelped a little one with a construction paper portrait. Nearby,Keehne stood, arms crossed and listening intently as Mina Faust, 10,read her biography.

Bornn said he got the idea to partner the team with elementaryschool children from a newspaper article.

'It's a great way to teach kids concern for others,' he said. 'Wehave about 15 kids signed up to do it. One of the moms said she'dhelp coordinate it with the school and Bouquet was the first one torespond that they were ready. We're going to continue until the endof the school year and pick it up in the fall.'

The high school students get no extra credit or community servicepoints for their involvement, a fact that didn't seem to matter tothe boys as they eagerly went to their classes.

'When I told these guys that the kids would be looking forward toseeing them every week, they were ready,' Bornn said. 'I told themthe kids would be depending on them, and let them know if theyflaked and didn't show that they would be letting the kids down.

'I remember when I was a kid, if I saw a football player walkingacross campus, it didn't matter if he was the starting quarterbackor the eighth-string punter, they were a football player and a heroin my eyes.'

Bornn said the buzz around the locker room has been nothing butpositive - and for 15 young men at Saugus High, Fridays have becomemuch more than just game days.

Carol Rock, (661) 257-5252

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com