<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A circle of chairs in the Mitchell Elementary auditorium included middle school and high school students and one big kid, and they all took turns saying their name and interests. And when it was the big kid's time to talk, all the youngsters were focused on the Nuggets' center. "My name is Marcus. I like to jump rope, too. I like to play basketball," Marcus Camby said. Camby met Wednesday with students involved in the third year of Marcus' Mentors, which operates under the auspices of the nonprofit Denver Kids Inc. The program consists of weekly tutoring sessions in math and reading conducted by nine juniors and seniors from three Denver high schools with 18 Mitchell fourth-graders and fifth-graders from September to May. "It's all about giving back, and I'm trying to teach these juniors and seniors the importance of giving back and helping out others," said Camby, who will make surprise visits during the season. The juniors and seniors receive $2,500 scholarships for each year in the program. Camby said four tutors from the program are college freshmen now. East High junior Raymond Tucker, 16, said, "You don't see a lot of celebrities like him do this, especially a lot of basketball players, and take time out of their career to help out." Camby averaged 12.8 points and career-highs of 11.9 rebounds, 1.41 steals and an NBA-leading 3.29 blocks last season. He missed 23 games because of injuries last season, but he says he is entering training camp Tuesday in Durango completely healthy. </div> Source
