Columbia Site

Hey Everyone,

Oh, looks like I'm one of the last to post... still getting used to this blogging idea. Well, here at Columbia we're off to a really great start. We accepted 51 students this semester at the site we've been with for a few years now--Frederick Douglass Academy. It's a really great site in Central Harlem with a really dedicated staff and disciplined students (they always "Act Academy!"). Our site helped us to recruit the most dedicated students and keeps them in line if they get too rowdy (which isn't all that often in the first place). Regarding recruitment: we had a lot of help on that front from our site (we work with kids from this one specific high school) but many of the students ended up being accepted late because we didn't have direct control over the recruitment process. That's one area I'd like to be more involved in next semester. Out of the students we have now, we only had to dismiss one student because he missed too many classes and our classes are usually attended regularly. We'd like to start using incentives to get our attendance even higher, however, but we haven't been able to get in touch with any local companies. Does anyone have any suggestions? We tried movie theatres in the area, and they weren't all that receptive.
Anyway, our students have been really receptive to the program, we have many returning students this semester and a very exciting group of high scoring sophomores. The only problem we've had with the students is making sure they take shorter breaks. We're trying to stagger the breaks so that all the students aren't in the hallways at once but does anyone have any other suggestions?

Concerning our coaches, we have a good mix of veteran coaches (5 of which will be leaving at the end of the semester) and really great enthusiastic new coaches. We haven't had any problems with students and coaches not connecting. They classes seem to be well matched. We have a pretty innovative coach this semester who teaches visual mnemonics on the board instead of verbal ones. Her class is especially artistic actually and this approach has really combined the talents of the students with the curriculum. We've been having a problem with coaches not letting us know when they'll be out and leaving us without substitutes at times. Have any other groups confronted this issue? If so, how? We've been thinking of making a listserv of substitutes for the coaches to email when they need someone to cover. Any other ideas?

One event that went especially well this semester was the trip to Columbia. About half the students attended the trip and went to a basketball game afterward. It really gave the students an appreciation for the work that the coaches put in. I feel that it both instilled respect for the work they're doing and a sense of companionship or mentorship. From this event, we've found out about other Columbia events that are recruiting high schoolers (like basketball clinics and the like--the kids at our site particularly like this sport). It was a great way to open up discussion early on between coaches and students in a friendly way while maintaining a sense of authority. Soon, we'll be making our next trip--to Marist University. Hopefully, this one will go just as well as the last.

I think that's about it. So far, we haven't encountered too many problems but one thing I'd still like to do is create more of a community of coaches so that LGR will be more of a group than an activity. At an upcoming CPM we might try to make a more familial environment by having a potluck dinner; everyone likes to eat, no? I'm not sure if this will work, but I think it's worth a shot; suggestions? Thanks everyone and good luck in all your endeavors!

-Matt Clements