Even before our first Literacy Fight story, we knew we wanted to reach out to others to learn why they fight for literacy. It is with great pride that our first conversation in the #Fight4Literacy involves an amazing family—a son that decided to commit his high school football season to Coaching for Literacy, a mother who spends her days as a kindergarten teacher and a father who uses his platform and voice to educate and inform others about the importance of literacy.
Introducing Dallan (son), Toya (mother) and Aaron (father) Hayden. Dallan is a junior at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis and through a season-long fundraising campaign, Touchdowns to Tackle Illiteracy, he has raised more than $17,600 for Coaching for Literacy (as of Sept 6, 2020).
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Carleen: Hi. My name is Carleen O’Reilly and I am the Executive Director of Coaching for Literacy. We use the power of sport to raise awareness about illiteracy and funds for literacy programs around the country. I am so incredibly excited to have the Hayden family join me today for a conversation about some awesome work that their son Dallan is doing. First of all, welcome Hayden family…appreciate you being here.
Hayden Family: Thank you for having us.
Carleen: Of course, of course. So Dallan, you are a junior at Christian Brothers High School and it has been an incredibly exciting season so far. We’re about four games in and you're averaging three touchdowns a game which is simply so incredibly impressive. But the real reason why we are talking is that you had committed at the beginning of the season to raise money for Coaching for Literacy. To date, you have raised more than $17,600 and that's coming from 130 donors which is tremendous. You have a great following and people are excited to not only see you score but also to know that you are using your performance on the field to raise money to help kids learn how to read. It’s simply amazing. Congrats on that. So tell me how you really got interested in Coaching for Literacy and why you decided to commit your season.
Dallan: Before the season I just wanted to use my platform to give back to the community. Donate money for every touchdown I score to something in the city people need. And my mom told me I should do literacy since growing up I struggled with that in school. We decided to do this.
Carleen: Wonderful. Now he gets to call you “mom” but I know I get to call you “Toya”. So Toya thank you so much for joining us. And you are a kindergarten teacher here in Memphis. Is that correct?
Toya: Yes.
Carleen: Wonderful. So tell me a little bit about Dallan struggling with literacy as a child.
Toya: We applied for admission to an area pre-kindergarten program. And Dallan went through the screening process and he did not get accepted into the program. So upon meeting with the campus director at that time, he indicated that Dallan exhibited some red flags. So upon discussion of the red flags, I like to call them hiccups, I immediately put a plan into action.
Carleen: Tell me a little bit about what that plan looked like for your family.
Toya: That plan looked like getting the testing done, the educational testing. Speech testing. Hearing. Because Dallan did speak extremely loud when he was younger but we just thought he was a loud talker. He had a history of ear infections when he was younger and based upon all the testing and screening and talking to various doctors and therapists they think that attributed to his respective language delay.
Carleen: Okay. So what did it look like? Was there..was it tutoring? What kind of resources were you able to identify with some of these experts that he had needed.
Toya: We did intensive speech and language therapy speech. Meaning we did speech therapy twice a week but in addition to the speech therapy, he was still able to play sports and do the things that he deemed was fun. He really liked going to speech therapy. I think it really equipped him with learning to accept others that were different because at this place where he did therapy they did all types of therapy. Whether it was behavioral therapy or speech therapy. Occupational therapy. He met lots of friends that everyone there was there to receive services. It became part of our daily routine. We had speech therapy, twice a week.
Carleen: You were playing sports early on and it sounds like some of these projects and the interventions that Mom and Dad started while you were young, Dallan, really kind of helped you. Because I hear that you are a pretty good student at Christian Brothers High School and that’s definitely not an easy one.
Dallan: Yes ma’am.
Carleen: What do your grades look like now?
Dallan: Every year I’ve been at CBHS I’ve averaged a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
Carleen: That’s awesome. So no challenges with any type of speech or reading or any of the mathematics skills or anything like that.
Dallan: No ma’am. Not really. There are challenges but that’s just how high school is going to be. But I am able to overcome challenges.
Carleen: Are still projecting quite loudly then? Are you still the loud talker that mom..
Dallan: Sometimes…
Carleen: I think that comes with it sometimes. So Dad, I want to hop over to you. And I get to call you “Aaron”. So Aaron, you also may be considered a loud talker because I believe that you are a coach for Christian Brothers. Right?
Aaron: Yes. Yes I am. And I am a very loud talker. I call it passion. I am a loud talker.
Carleen: I love it. You had spent a couple years…you went through high school went on to college. Played with University of Tennessee and then went off into the NFL. So you know how important it is for [Dallan] to keep his grades up and I know you have another son who is playing football. Chase is playing football in college as well. So tell me a little bit about the role of academics and literacy that you’ve seen both as a player and as a coach.
Aaron: I think as a player, no matter what level you go to, no matter what background you come from, when you get in that locker room there are 85 guys from different socioeconomic backgrounds, cultural backgrounds and racial backgrounds. And what you find is there are guys that have some gaps from an academic standpoint and of course from a reading and articulation standpoint. And it’s pretty evident in most locker rooms. You know the guys that struggle even with a playbook and the simple things that go on in a playbook. You know the guys that have to do extra work and meet with coaches and things like that. And then as a coach, you definitely notice that guys that don’t catch onto things very quickly. You can tell by the vocabulary the guys use at every level. And you can just tell there’s definitely a gap as far as literacy at every level. I told you a story before and I’ve told John Wilfong this story. But just talking to my boys in the locker room. Realizing they both had speech therapy that the resources that were available to them a lot of times aren’t available to everybody in every community. And then there’s the fact that sometimes people just don’t know about the resources or can’t afford the resources. That’s another reason my family has been very involved with Coaching for Literacy and just literacy in general.
I didn’t tell you this but in college I worked in a reading program with a boys club in Knoxville and in the summertime I went and read to kids. And what I realized. My particular boys club was in the projects. One of the things I learned there was there were either families that felt that reading was very important and there were kids that came there every single day and read five or six books at different reading levels. And then there were kids that came just so they can get the basketballs out after we read and it [reading] wasn't very important to them. And I don’t know why I forgot about that. It left an impact on me because we had all the types of books and all types of resources. And some people took advantage of them and you follow those kids on to where they are now. That was 25-30 years ago. You see the success that they’re having. Then there are other kids that came upon trouble because those same gaps that they didn’t have. I think there’s a frustration when you can’t achieve academically and you can’t read. There’s a frustration. And we both know there is an economic loss for your [inability] to read. I just think back to my experiences as a coach and a player. I see it every day. I think it’s more of a majority than of a minority when you look at sports.
Carleen: And that is why we will continue to work. You mention John Wilfong. He is the chairman of Coaching for Literacy, one of our founders. His son and another friend started our organization and we really are trying to connect people to the problem of illiteracy and then how how can someone take effect. I mean, you saying how you used to go to after-school program and tutor kids on how to read and pick up a basketball but there's a lot of learning that children are going to have when they're able to combine sports with education and be able to have those resources. Dallan, you had shared with me that you wanted to make sure that we could get you volunteering at some point, and that is absolutely something that I want to happen. We might wait until after the season and I know things are a little crazy with the coronavirus right now. We will find a way for you to serve in that capacity as well. Thank you for that offer.
Thinking about you're still in high school and you’ve got a lot of friends who are just thinking about having fun and on social media. I see you retweeting posts about literacy and really engaging with the people that are following you. What would you tell some of your fellow teammates or other high school students about your experience doing this Pledge It campaign “Touchdowns to Tackle Illiteracy”. What would you encourage them to do?
Dallan: I would say literacy is important because you’ll use that probably for the rest of your life and it will become important with whatever sport you’re playing is over. And then I’d just say to encourage people don’t ever give up. Don’t ever let anybody tell you what you can and can’t do.
Carleen: Awesome. That’s a great motivation for people to keep doing the work. Toya, is there anything else from an educator standpoint or anything else you’d like to add?
Toya: Stay focused on your kid. Early intervention is key. Always be willing to put in the work. Because everything is for the success for your child. Never listen to the naysayers to tell your child what they can’t do. They can do exceedingly and above and beyond what anyone tells you. If you’re willing to put the work in.
Carleen: How about you Aaron?
Aaron: Pay attention to the facts. I love the statistic that by 3rd-4th grade, whatever reading level you are, basically determines your economic ability to make money and change your life and how far you can go in education. Just stick to the facts. Make sure you know what resources are available even if you can’t afford to do the therapy sessions and things like that. I know in our community, through things like this Coaching for Literacy and other programs, there are resources available. Just do your homework. Address the issues early. Because the frustration that comes with somebody that can’t read or achieve academically is normally the determining factor for sending them into other avenues to draw attention to themselves. A lot of times they aren’t positive avenues. I just want to say address it early. Don’t be afraid of the stigma. Don’t be afraid to ask other people. There are plenty of people that want to see changes in our community and will point you in the right direction or assist you.
Carleen: This has been absolutely amazing. I thank each of you for your time; you have been phenomenal. Dallan, I am inspired by you. I have heard from donors, new donors to Coaching for Literacy, that they are inspired…what does that mean to you, Dallan Hayden, that people are making donations that you’ve never met before?
Dallan: It means a lot. It’s like I’m a positive affect in the Memphis community just because of my athletic play. They see me as a positive role model in the community.
Carleen: I told you before, my kids root for you every Friday night. I will be rooting for you throughout your career and the entire Hayden family. You guys have been absolutely awesome. I’m going to wrap this. Thank you. Thank you for your commitment to literacy. Thank you for joining us. We’ll see you soon.
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Want to check out Dallan’s campaign? Click here and join the #Fight4Literacy.
