Off the Streets & Onto the Basketball Court: Skills For Life
My students need basketballs, cones, stopwatches, a duffle bag, and an electric pump so that our basketball team has the proper equipment to practice and play.
$551 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."
--- Phil Jackson
I work in a small continuation high school in Southern California.
We have approximately 220 students. Our student to teacher ratio is 20:1.
Our student population is 64% Hispanic, 28% Caucasian, 4% African American, and 4% Two or More Races. We are a Title 1 school. Students receive free breakfast & free lunch. Most of our students are involuntary transfers. They are attending here for a plethora of reasons including poor grades, behind in credits, teen parent, pregnancy, behavior issues, or not being able to make a connection at the comprehensive high school. Most students flourish at our school. We offer many choices to catch up on missing credits. Teachers check in with each student, every 4 weeks, to review how many credits have been earned. Staff meets every other week to review & discuss students and the challenges they may be facing. We want every student to succeed. The students feel very connected to our school. We are changing lives.
My Project
Last year was the very first year that our school had a basketball team! The camaraderie of the players was simply inspiring. That team encouraged each other, supported each other, and played games on Sundays. Students, teachers, and our principals went to the game to cheer on OUR TEAM. The team practices 3-4 days a week. Our wonderful counselor, made this dream happen for our kids. He selflessly donates all of his time. We had to join a city league as our continuation high school, like all continuation high schools, is not allowed to participate in CIF (California Interscholastic Sports).
We were the team that had very little as far as equipment. We have old worn out basketballs that need to be replaced. We desperately need basketballs for practice, cones for agility drills, and stop watches to challenge us to be better than our last attempt. We would absolutely love the electric ball pump.
Returning players are enthusiastically asking when basketball try outs will begin.
Being on a team has so many benefits: Our students persevere even when faced with defeat.
They get up, get better, and encourage one another. Our team has learned respect. Respect for the coach, respect for the referee, and they show respect to the opposing team. These high school boys became young men last year. I was just so moved by their athletic progress as well as the way they carried themselves. Our students need this equipment so that we can continue this "new' tradition.
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