VANCOUVER, Wash. --- The University of Portland men’s basketball team took an afternoon to visit some of their biggest fans on Tuesday as second graders from Columbia Valley Elementary school welcomed the Pilots.

DeAnn VanNess, the second grade teacher, is the wife of former Pilot basketball player James VanNess and their son has been a regular ball boy at UP games. VanNess tied much of her teaching curriculum around the team to get her class more engaged and involved in the lessons.

The project started months earlier when the class sent numerous Flat Stanley’s to each of the players and coaches. The bond got stronger after many of the kids came to home games at the Chiles Center and got autographs from the players after the games. Many writing exercises throughout the school year incorporated the team with information obtained about the players through the school’s athletic web site.

The lesson plans obviously had an impact on the kids as many were star-struck and excited when the ten players entered the classroom. They listened intently as each player introduced himself and gave some words of encouragement, advice, and even some thoughts on recycling as it happened to be Earth Day.

On the walls of the classroom were photos of each player and coach on the 2007-08 roster as well as notes about each individual. In the hall was a height chart listing each player’s name and roster height. The kids had Portland Pilots handbooks where they kept notes and eventually interviewed all of the players individually. The notes gathered by each child will be used to write an article.

But most of the fun for the kids came after the one-on-one interviews were finished. The team posed for pictures with individuals and the class as a whole. Then it was time for autographs in the cafeteria, which created some controlled chaos as many of the other classes saw what was happening and flooded the mini-gym for autographs as well.

After nearly an hour of autograph signing (which included the exchange of emails from many of the children with their favorite players) the Pilots and all of the second grade classes posed for one final photo before the kids finished school and the team headed back to campus. As parting gifts, the kids gave each player his own booklet with customized notes.

For photos of the event, click the above link.