Meet the PC Team - Marquis Taylor

My name is Marquis Taylor, and I'm a graduate teaching candidate at Smith College and a Project Coach Fellow. My long term goal is to lead a youth based non profit that focuses on building leaders by reconnecting youth to learning.

My interest stems from my own youth. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and I had the privilege of using basketball as my vehicle to broaden my horizons.

Currently, my goal is to begin a program in Brockton, MA for the summer of 2011. I am learning how vital networking and building relationships are especially in the non profit world. Between traveling to meetings, school, coaching, and Project Coach, I have been able to develop great relationships that have allowed me to meet some influential people from Stephen A. Smith (ESPN analyst), Jim Calhoun (UConn Head Basketball Coach), Tim Moore (Quinnipiac University Head Basketball Coach), and Ed Cooley (Fairfield University Head Basketball Coach).

As a result of these meetings, Fairfield University Men's Basketball Coaches and Project Coach will be setting up a time for our high school coaches to see a high level Division 1 basketball game, and meet with coaches and players, on November 8th (see our blog for a write up soon after!).

Ed Cooley, who is also a Stonehill College graduate, is a dynamic and energetic coach who will truly leave a lasting impression on our high school coaches. I am excited to be apart of the process and look forward to giving our high school coaches a new experience.

http://www.fairfieldstags.com/coaches.aspx?rc=22&path=mbball

Here's Johnny! A Closer Look At The Man Behind The Scenes!

Anyone who has spent time in the North End has probably run into John Rodriguez.  The lifelong resident of the North End recently told me about some childhood memories, reflections about the North End today, and why he loves Project Coach.

John was born in Springfield’s North End in 1964, and remembers the neighborhood as family oriented when he was a boy.  The parks were always filled with picnics and kids played baseball after school and on the weekends. 

John went to school at Brightwood Elementary, down the street from the fields now used by Project Coach.  North End children today, he says, are not like they were in the ‘70s.  John sees too much drug and crime activity on the streets now, and observes that kids today are more street smart.  They have learned to adapt to their environment.  He observes another difference: growing up in the North End is tough on a lot of kids because their parents aren’t around.  John estimates that in any crowd of 20 kids, only 3 live with both parents.  And then he shakes his head.

I asked John why he works as a School Monitor at Gerena Elementary School.  John’s answer was much more complex than I anticipated. John is quiet and friendly man who defies the image of a School Monitor.  For years he worked in a nearby juvenile jail.  He saw a lot of good in the kids he worked with there, but also a lot of despair. The job was tough.  He gravitated to Gerena because he wanted to work with kids and give back to his community.  But he also wanted intercept these kids and help them chose the right path so they would not end up at the juvenile jail. 

John believes in Project Coach.  He values it because it offers consistency and a foundation to kids who do not experience much routine or comfort outside of school.  And he especially appreciates the confidence that emerges in the children.  At the beginning of John’s first year working with Project Coach, he remembers a shy small elementary school girl standing at the fence watching kids play soccer with the program.  He went over to her and invited her to play.  “Oh no, I’m too shy,” she answered.  With a little persuasion she joined the program.  John beams as he reflects on the way that little girl blossomed in Project Coach.  He chuckles as he tells me that she’s a confident and popular middle school student now.  His compassion shines through, he can’t hide it.

By Kuna Tavalin - Project Coach Fellow 2010-2011

Hitting the Books @ PC

Project Coach is not just an after school program—it is a support system. Sam, Don, Andy, and the Grad Students aren’t there only to teach the Springfield teens how to become sports coaches; they support the growth and development of the full teen. An example of the extra steps Project Coach takes for its students is its tutoring program. Project Coach takes Smithie volunteers and matches them up with teen coaches who agree to bring work they need help on. One such Smith tutor, is First Year Abbie Alexander, a 19 year old from Nashville, Tennessee. And this is her story:

She came to Smith because she wanted to know New England and loved the open curriculum and thought Smith provided its students with a great global awareness. She is currently unsure of her major, but is thinking of majoring in sociology, with an education minor.

Abbie heard about Project Coach after they came to talk at Smith’s Senate and the description of Project Coach’s goals reminded her of a program she was involved back home in Nashville. “I did a lot of work with youth empowerment in Nashville, and I really loved Project Coach’s model of youth engagement and commitment to helping youths succeed. It is really great to know there are programs out there that actually care about the development of teens and their success”.

Before her first time tutoring at PC, Abbie had no expectations. But when she arrived on Monday, her first tutoree, Alyssa, and her really hit it off. “She was big into University of Tennessee basketball, so we bonded over that, and also, Alissa really liked Pat Summit, and I actually met her, so we also spent some time talking about why Pat Summit is such a great role model. Then, later on during the Project Coach teaching session, Alissa, actually called me over to point out a picture of Pat Summit she had found in her book! I felt like I had actually connected with her, it was such a great feeling!”

I asked Abbie, after being a part of Project Coach’s tutoring program for a month now, what she thinks of the program. She said, “Not many teens get the chance to coach younger kids and I think people underestimate the effort that goes into coaching. To be a coach, one needs to understand how kids operate and how to reach out to them. So, for a high schooler to step into that role, that is really impressive”.

Finally, I asked Abbie how she thought the tutoring aspect of Project Coach added to the program as a whole. After thoughtfully thinking about this question, Abbie answered, “When giving youth the opportunity to take on such a highly responsible role, you have to acknowledge that they need adequate support to fulfill that role. By providing tutoring to the high schoolers, Project Coach ensures their kids are being taken care of in the big picture scheme of things. This helps not only the livelihood of the Project, but sets the students up for all around success. They need support to do their job, but also support as a developing youth. This is a goal Project Coach accomplishes”.

By Marie Wallace

Project Coach - A Founder's Perspective

A long time ago, before there was Project Coach, there was Don Siegel, a professor at Smith College and a squash extraordinaire, on sabbatical in Boston. Ok, so it was just in 2003…but it was still before Project Coach. It was here that Don Siegel saw how sports could connect to academics and saw how they could change kids’ lives. He worked with projects such as “Squash Busters” which connects underprivileged kids with the game of squash and community service. However, even after researching this program, it was unclear to Don whether the kids actually did better in school because of this program, or if it was just an alternative to babysitting.

Back at Smith, Don connected with Education guru, Sam Intrator and had a study group with some undergrads to brainstorm. They discovered that Springfield had many great sports facilities, but they weren’t being utilized. Thus, the idea of teaching Springfield teens how to be coaches and using sport as a mediator for growth and development was born. Don says, “As a coach, the teenager needs to know how to communicate, teach, problem solve, etc. and all these skills are vital for success”.

Five years later, after much grant writing, many cycles of grad students, and various sports drills, Project Coach had grown and expanded successfully. Don and Sam’s goal had been that kids would do better in school, but now, in the 6th year, the goal has grown to getting these bright and charismatic teens to college. To accomplish this goal, the program, this year, is focusing on literacy and the students’ grades through progress reports. If it is discovered that a student is having difficulty in a subject, the student receives help from a Smith College tutor.

Don loves this addition to the program, but says “It’s not a solution. What is needed is an earlier intervention. The schools need to be changed. This program does a lot, but it can’t do everything”.

Don does so much for Project Coach, so I asked him what the program did for him. He gave me two reasons why he loves being a part of Project Coach. First, from his professor point of view, he loves seeing his theories and ideas operationalized outside of his classroom and in the real world. Secondly, he really loves the social capital that Project Coach inspires, not just between the Springfield teens with their young Springfield athletes, but between Smith College’s grad students and volunteers and the Springfield community.

Each group of people involved in Project Coach, the teens, the young athletes, and the Smithies have bonding capital within their own groups, but not with people different from them. Project Coach is the bridge that allows these bonds to happen. It brings together the three different worlds or teens, kids, and Smith and enables them to learn from one another and grow together, creating a larger and stronger community.

By Marie Wallace