Coby White walked into Gary Elementary’s gymnasium Monday with a smile so broad you would think he was running onto the court at the United Center on opening night.
His energy was a result of getting the chance to spend the afternoon with about 50 students at the launch of their new STEM program hosted by SAP.
“When I was a kid, people didn’t do these type of things for us,” White said. “For me to be able to use my platform and where I’m at to change kids lives, I know today some kids are going to be my fans forever.”
Young fans surrounded White, some so shy they couldn’t get a sentence out around him. He combated their nerves with laughter, making every kid he worked with smile before leaving.
The STEM educational programming will give kids in sixth through ninth grade the chance to learn through game-like lessons aimed to encourage them to pursue careers in technical fields. The students at Gary Elementary applied what they learned in their STEM programming to an interactive educational experience with White in which they used statistics and data to make informed decisions for the Bulls organization.
White begins his rookie season in a few weeks, and the point guard said he has been in the gym with his teammates four times a week. The entire team has been practicing together Monday through Thursday. White said, with the exception of Cristiano Felicio and Tomas Satoransky, who have been playing for their national teams.
“We’ve been trying to gel as a team,” White said. “Coach [Jim] Boylen’s been doing a terrific job of pushing us, getting us to that next level for us to be a winning team.”
