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For 93-year-old Negro Baseball League legend Thomas Turner, the game of baseball is filled with valuable life lessons.

Turner pitched those lessons to students in Kathy Teitelman's South Lebanon Elementary's reading/language arts group Tuesday, Feb. 24, at Kroger in Maineville.

Students asked questions of the 93-year-old Turner, who lives in Kentucky. They asked him about his start in the baseball world at 7 years old on his uncle's team in Memphis, Tenn., running after lost balls off field and eventually hitting whatever pitchers could dish out on the field.

He joined the Chicago American Giants in 1947 – the same year Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Turner said a career on the baseball diamond meant working hard all day long. Practice started at 9 a.m. and players did not leave the field until 5 p.m. except for a quick lunch.

"We didn't feel like horsin' around," he said. "We was so tired, we'd go right to bed."

One third-grade student asked Turner what he felt like when fans booed him.

"I didn't pay attention and I still don't pay any attention," he said. "If someone says something you don't like, what you do, you ignore them."

Turner urged students to pursue their dreams, treat each other with kindness and respect their parents and teachers.

Teitelman's class, which spent part of February researching a famous African American that has made significant contributions to society, put their completed reports on display at Kroger on Ohio 48 to help mark Black History Month. Tuesday they posed in front of the reports with Turner, whose expansive smile matched their wide-eyed fascination.

Christian Kagy, 9, said Turner's stories helped him learn it was important to be nice to others. He was impressed by the age Turner started playing baseball and the length of his years in baseball. Danny Kukanza, 9, said he learned a lot about what Turner endured in the Negro league, including his not being able to shower in "white" motels in the segregated South.

"If I were him, I would never forget the days he's been through," Kukanza said.

Teitelman said working on the project and visiting with Turner helped students broaden their horizons.

"Since we're in a building where there's not a lot of diversity, I think that the children gain a lot of knowledge learning about another group of people," she said. "Also, it gives them a good sense of history."