By Anne–Kathryn Bultman Photos by Amanda Taylor

Cullen Henderson, a big Clemson fan, loves the visit from the Clemson Tiger.

There’s a tiger in the classroom. He’s sitting in a chair, posing for pictures, and signing a few autographs.

On Friday, January 27, the Clemson Tiger traveled all the way from Clemson University to visit an excited group of first graders at Richland One’s Logan Elementary School. The Clemson Tiger’s visit was in addition to a visit from USC’s mascot, “Cocky,” a few weeks prior.

The Tiger brought students the book, “ABC’s of Clemson,” which was read to them by Logan Elementary School teacher April Robinson. The two mascots’ visits were part of the Reading is Fundamental Program, which aims to get kids more interested in reading.

First grade teacher Kevin White was happy to have the Clemson Tiger visit his classroom even though he is a USC graduate and Gamecock fan.

“We wanted to compare and contrast the two mascots and integrate it into the reading program. Hopefully, this will get the kids a lot more interested in reading,” White said.

Teachers April Robinson and Kevin White and the Clemson Tiger with White’s first grade class at Logan Elementary School White teaches 17 students in his non–traditional Montessori classroom. The Montessori classroom teaches students with a hands on approach, and the parents are very involved.

“Since this is a Montessori first grade class, we teach the kids one lesson at a time in small groups. The kids are encouraged to do things on their own and be more independent, which is great because it influences their behavior at home,” White said.

One of White’s first graders, Cullen Henderson, was particularly excited by the tiger’s visit. Cullen is a Clemson football fan, and one of his favorite players is Cullen Harper.

“He’s my favorite because we have the same name,” Cullen said.

“I’ve been to pretty much all of the games,” the excited first grader said. “I usually go and tailgate with my dad, and we get to sit up front during the games. We usually run onto the field after the games.”

Cullen’s parents, Tom and Vicky Henderson, who were wearing their Clemson colors, were on hand to take pictures of the kids with the Tiger.

While the kids were taking pictures with the Tiger, one of the students said, “If Cocky were here he might be mad that we are taking pictures with the Tiger and not him.”