NBA star Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards has selected 82 schools from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to be participants in his Scores for Schools program. Each of the schools will be assigned to one of the Wizards’ 82 games during the 2007-2008 season and will receive $100 for every point Arenas scores during that game. Last season, Arenas averaged 28.4 points per game, which added up to about $3,000 for each selected school.

Arenas will foot the bill for each of the 41 home games, while Wizards owner Abe Pollin will put up his own money for the 41 away games the team will play. Last year, Pollin and Arenas donated almost $215,000 to D.C.-area schools.

With much of the negative press that professional athletes get these days, it’s nice to know that some of them are doing good things in the community and looking out for their young fans—and the schools they attend. Thanks, Gilbert and Abe!