STANTON, Iowa (KMTV) —
- Ryan Sloth, known as Coach Sloth, played football for the Iowa State Cyclones and the Iowa Barnstormers. He's appeared in big-name movies like "We are Marshall" and "The Dark Knight Rises." He also writes children's books.
- On Monday, he visited students in Stanton, Iowa, where he told the kids about how he became a writer and shared stories about playing football.
- Sloth, his real name, also had the kids act out a scene about dealing with a bully. Teacher John Mainquist said the program fit in with the school's efforts to teach emotional skills.
- Learn more: coachsloth.com
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Stanton elementary students got a fun chance to learn about reading, writing and not being a bully.
I’m southwest Iowa reporter Katrina Markel at Stanton Community Schools where Coach Sloth paid the kids a special visit.
Ryan Sloth — Yep! That’s his real name — played football for Iowa State in the late ‘90s. He followed that up with an arena football career, Hollywood movie appearances, and now, he writes children’s books, usually about sports.
Coach Sloth visits schools and uses his love of sports, magic tricks and animals to get kids reading, writing and practicing kindness.
Often through a character named Sammy, who is — wait for it — a sloth.
When coach was a kid, he says he wasn’t that big of a reader, until….
“I was like, wait a minute, there’s books about sports? I’m like -- and so I read it and it got me into reading and enjoy reading and into books and it really helped me later on in high school and so forth. So, I try to tell the kids the same thing; you find an author that write about subjects you enjoy and then that kind of helps you out and gets you excited and encouraged to read,” said Sloth.
He tells kids they can write their own books, and some do...
“...Like three years ago, I was like, ‘Wow this is so cool.’ I mean it’s a really good book, too. I’m like, ‘this is pretty neat.’”
Teacher John Mainquist says Coach’s anti-bullying message was right for the school’s social and emotional learning program.
“Treating others with kindness, learning how to be accepting of others, and even when arguments occur – how do we handle that? So we heard about Coach Sloth from a neighboring school and we said ‘We need to get him in here for our students,” said Mainquist.
Third-grader Beckem is a fan: “He is a really good guy, he likes Iowa State. He’s the best teacher.’
And wiggly kids had fun before winter break. All while developing literacy and emotional skills.
Katrina: “What did you talk about today?”
Beckem: “Not being a bully and always be kind.”
