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NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans and Acme Truck Lines hosted a “Reading Time-Out” for 120 students from Laureate Academy Charter School at the Smoothie King Center on Monday.

Pelicans’ power forward Emeka Okafor took time out of his busy schedule to read to the group of youngsters and share with them the importance of knowledge.

“When I was younger we used to have contests for how many books we could read, and we’d get pizza or a trip to Astro-world (I’m from Houston), and I’m an avid reader to this day,” said Okafor. “It worked on me, so I wanted to come out today and instill the same lesson with these kids.”

The students went through a series of stations that consists of interaction, comprehension and listening skills – with a touch of basketball.