TEAching fellow: Mr. Martin
CITIZEN TEACHERS: Mr. Pierce (RSA Coding) & Mr. Gaddy (RSA Dean)
The first word in B.A.L.L. 4 Life stands for Becoming an Authentic Learner and Leader. This program’s goal was to empower our group of male student athletes from 6th to 8th grade, and help them maximize their potential to turn their dreams into reality. These amazing students explored educational, mental, physical, athletic and professional lessons and tools that can help them make a difference not only on the basketball court, field, ring, or class but most importantly, in life.
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After school both at RSA and virtually via Zoom/Google Hangouts, we engaged in hour-long tutoring sessions to provide support in various subjects such as Math, Science, English, History, and Coding. During that hour we also engaged in dialogue around podcasts such as Earn Your Leisure for those interested in entrepreneurship, music, sports, technology and the stock market. Other topics included the gift of declaring, why do we matter manifestation, conflict resolution and goal setting. For the last half hour, the students engaged in fitness exercises and scrimmages, and even got a victory against the NYPD team in February, 88-81!
With the rise of COVID-19 in our nation, the sudden death of Kobe Bryant as well as the death of one of the students who was a member of BALL 4 Life and RSA basketball team, it became equally important to engage the young men in activities that involved meditation, journaling and watching films. Students watched Bleed For This, Overcomer, Thunderstruck, Whiplash, MUSE, Rebound, I CAN I WILL I DID as well as Stephon Marbury and Michael Jordan documentaries to see how tragedy can turn into triumph, how we can heal from past mistakes while learning new knowledge in the present to create a positive legacy and better future.
Lastly, they had an opportunity to attend events like Youth Mentoring Convention and an Athlete's Lunch, where they engaged with many other students and over 10 professionals in various fields.
B.A.L.L. 4 Life students: James, Malakai, Ethan, DeSean, Gregory, Vincent, Rashawn, Francisco, Jeremy, Luis, Jason, and Ameth (RSA)