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Blair Sports Academy
January 11, 2008
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Statistics
We continue to be thrilled with the participation in the BSA. As of today, there are 526 students registered to participate and the stats for each day are as follows:
Academic Support 2/13-2/16 Sports Component 2/13-2/16 Monday snow day Monday snow day Tuesday 7 Tuesday 66 Wednesday 9 Wednesday 80 Thursday 26 Thursday 82
Academic Support 2/20-2/23 Sports Component 2/20-2/23 Monday holiday Monday holiday Tuesday 30 Tuesday 56 Wednesday 29 Wednesday 92 Thursday 23 Thursday 59
Academic Support 2/28-3/2 Sports Component 2/28-3/2 Monday early release Monday early release Tuesday 16 Tuesday 63 Wednesday 32 Wednesday 96 Thursday 19 Thursday 42 ---------
Soccer
For the spring, the sports component will change to soccer for the 3 days the BSA can access the gym. On the forth day, we will have Sports in the SAC as we did in the winter. Students have formed 24 teams, which is the full capacity for a 3 day schedule. We are excited that there are 2 all girl teams and several more co-ed teams this year. Referees – we have been doing extensive research on soccer referees. At this point, we will start with one referee and the cost to the BSA is roughly $75 per day, rather than the $55 per hour used to estimate the budget. A second referee can be added for an additional $30 per day. Thank you for all of your comments and contacts. They proved very helpful. Keep them coming!
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Job Skills
On 3/5, seven BSA students attended a Tennis Coaches Workshop offered by the US Tennis Association (USTA). The USTA will program at SSI and Eastern Middle schools this spring and summer. This training workshop provided the skills necessary to teach tennis in that environment. The BSA helped identify the interested students and provided transportation to the workshop. Although students must still follow-up with an application, this training makes them very competitive for the program at the middle schools.
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Police
Working with Lt. Mccullagh at MCPD, guidelines were developed for officers participating in the BSA detail. They are listed below:
- Officers report in uniform at 2:30 pm and remain until 5:30 pm Monday thru Thursday. Officers will patrol the parking and bus lots between 5:00 and 5:30 pm .
- To ensure high visibility, officers will park their patrol vehicles directly in front of the entrance doors near BSA activities.
- The primary focus is to provide for the safety and security of all participants. To that end officers should maximize coverage by not congregating. They should, however, keep within a reasonable range for prompt response.
- An underlying goal of our participation is to develop positive role models and relationships with the students and staff. After giving consideration for officer safety issues, please participate in the activities with the students. Officers on scene are the best to determine the appropriate participation level.
- Officers are expected to share any relevant safety information with Blair and Recreation Department staff. Any potentially confidential gang information should be cleared with Sgt. Welch or Officer Brodzinski with the Gang Unit.
- Staffing during the soccer season (March-June) should have at least one Spanish speaking officer assigned. Understandably calls for service requiring Spanish speaking skills may require temporary staffing gaps.
- In case of disturbances the Recreation Department staff will attempt to intervene initially if safety permits. Officers may elect to respond first based on their experience and training.
- Officers are encouraged to communicate with the staff to mutually resolve any issues that are bound to arise. Any unresolved issued can be directed to the on duty Henry Sector Sergeant.
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Meeting
March 15 th at 5:30 – Visions for BSA
We will meet on the BSA on March 15 th at 5:30 in the Staff Lounge. This meeting will focus on planning for a summer program. Please send other items you wish to add to the agenda to me at melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov regardless of your ability to attend this meeting. I look forward to seeing all interested parties at the table.
Thanks to all those who have stopped in. If you haven't yet come to experience the program first hand, please consider doing so. Please contact Stephanie White ( stephanie.white@montgomerycountymd.gov ) or Jose Segura ( jose.segura@montgomerycountymd.gov ) so that they can walk you through the different aspects of the program.
We were excited by participation the second week of the Blair Sports Academy (BSA). As of Friday the 3rd, there are 300 students registered to participate and the stats for each day are as follows:
Academic Support 1/30-2/2
Monday 16
Tuesday 26
Wednesday 30
Thursday 6Sports Component 1/30-2/2
Monday 55
Tuesday 62
Wednesday 81
Thursday 54On February 1, Voices vs. Violence gave a presentation on Anger Management. The discussion included managing anger, controlling angry feelings, problem solving, and responding to angry people. We will try to have workshops from time to time that are of interest to student that will help them in their “professional” development.
We have now THREE parents who have volunteered some of their time to work with the BSA. We are excited to have them on board. We are continuously looking for people interested in volunteering for either the academic support, sports component, or both. Please contact me at melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov for more information.
On February 3rd, we met to discuss ways to fully utilize resources for the Blair students. We started with the following topics:
- How to best coordinate and utilize the existing Blair HS academic support with the additional academic support for BSA.
Both Mr. Gainous and Mr. Bunday stressed that personal contact is best. The more we can involve the teachers and parents of these students, the more opportunity we will have to make a difference. YMCA recommended a tournament day that extended to a time when parents might be able to participate with food as an additional enticement for participation. Mr. Gainous suggested having the resource teachers review those students registered in the BSA so far to better assist those that are struggling. We also discussed enhanced coordination on assigning students academic support – not just through the BSA. Also, the autocall machine can be used to remind our targeted students more frequently.
- Is there a way to work in test prep for statewide exams? What crossover exists with the new grant mentioned at the PTSA meeting?
Yes, there is likely crossover between these two groups. Overwhelmingly, the group decided that test prep would meet the requirement for academic support for those students wishing to participate in the sports component. Blair is just forming a group to discuss the mechanics of serving these kids. Jose will represent the BSA in future meetings to help in coordination. Stay tuned to more information on this topic.
- What raw data can we get from the school for the students registered in BSA? Specifically, we are interested in GPA and attendance.
We can work with Joe to ID students in the system for sorting so that we can follow progress. The database also contains any language considerations. Mr. Gainous recommends asking the language department to assist in any translations that may be needed for autocalls.
February 15 th at 5:30 – Visions for BSA
We will meet on the BSA on February 15 th at 5:30 in the Staff Lounge. This meeting will provide an update on the program so far as well as a look to the spring session for planning. We will also have a discussion of future funding. Please send other items you wish to add to the agenda to me at melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov regardless of your ability to attend this meeting. I look forward to seeing all interested parties at the table.
Please RSVP( melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov ) if you plan to attend this meeting so that we can ensure a room of the correct size.
Thanks to all those who have stopped in. If you haven't yet come to experience the program first hand, please consider doing so. Please contact Stephanie White ( stephanie.white@montgomerycountymd.gov ) or Jose Segura ( Jose_M_Segura@mcpsmd.org ) so that they can walk you through the different aspects of the program.
Blair Sports Academy - First Week
We were excited by participation the first week of the Blair Sports Academy (BSA). At this point, we have 211 students registered to participate and the stats for each day are as follows:
Academic Support
Tuesday 10
Wednesday 12
Thursday 16Sports Component
Tuesday 74
Wednesday 65
Thursday 85We had 14 students attend all three days and 32 students attend two days. We have some process things to iron out and are working to tweak some elements for better flow and accountability. Thanks to all those who have stopped in. If you haven't yet come to experience the program first hand, please consider doing so. Please contact Stephanie White ( stephanie.white@montgomerycountymd.gov ) or Jose Segura ( Jose_M_Segura@mcpsmd.org ) so that they can walk you through the different aspects of the program.
We have two parents who have volunteered some of their time to work with the BSA. We are excited to have them on board. We are continuously looking for people interested in volunteering for either the academic support, sports component, or both. Please contact me at melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov for more information.
NEW! NEW! NEW! February 3 rd 1-2 pm
In order to fully utilize resources, we have set a meeting (driven by Dr. Gainous' schedule) for next Friday, 2/3, from 1-2 pm . We will discuss the following:
- How to best coordinate and utilize the existing Blair HS academic support with the additional academic support for BSA.
- Is there a way to work in test prep for statewide exams? What crossover exists with the new grant mentioned at the PTSA meeting?
- What raw data can we get from the school for the students registered in BSA? Specifically, we are interested in GPA and attendance.
Please RSVP( melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov ) if you plan to attend this meeting so that we can ensure a room of the correct size. Also, please send me additional issues that may need to be addressed at this or future meetings.
February 15 th at 5:30 – Visions for BSA
We will meet on the BSA on February 15 th at 5:30 in the Staff Lounge. This meeting will provide an update on the program so far as well as a look to the spring session for planning. We will also have a discussion of future funding. Please send other items you wish to add to the agenda to melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov regardless of your ability to attend this meeting. I look forward to seeing all interested parties at the table.
Blair Sports Academy - First day
Tuesday, January 24 th , was the first day of the semester for Blair students and the first day of programming for the Blair Sports Academy (BSA). We were excited to have 10 students get assistance from four teachers and helpers for academic support at 2:15 . Later between 3:15 and 5 pm , 74 students participated in the sports component. For the winter, the sports components consists of board games, card games, double dutch, DDR (see an interesting article on this at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-01-24-ddr-gym-class_x.htm ), and ping pong. Students also got a healthy snack to keep their energy up. There was representation from all grades and good interaction between all the students. Teachers and other students stopped in to find out more about the BSA. A special thank you to Lisa Bradley, YMCA/YFS, who not only helped students register but proved to be a pro at Connect 4.
I have attached a few pictures of the day for you to enjoy. I welcome you to experience the program first hand. Please contact Stephanie White ( stephanie.white@montgomerycountymd.gov ) or Jose Segura ( Jose_M_Segura@mcpsmd.org ) so that they can walk you through the different aspects of the program.
We are continuously looking for people interested in volunteering for either the academic support, sports component, or both. If you could not make the informational meeting on the 25 th , we would still like to talk with you. Please contact me at melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov for more information.
February 15 th at 5:30 – Visions for BSA
We will look forward meeting on the BSA on February 15 th at 5:30 in the Staff Lounge. This meeting will provide an update on the program so far as well as a look to the spring session for planning. We will also have a discussion of future funding. Please send other items you wish to add to the agenda to me at melanie.coffin@montgomerycountymd.gov regardless of your ability to attend this meeting. I look forward to seeing all interested parties at the table.
The Blair Sports Academy (BSA) is an afterschool program with an academic component and a sports component. It provides Blair students (especially those that are below a 2.0 GPA) with the opportunity to participate in after-school programming in a safe, positive, and supervised environment. With more interaction, students may then be better suited to connect with their school while the academic support may help them get their grades up. Students can participate in the BSA Monday through Thursday. For academic support after school, they can report to Room 177 at 2:15 . Sports for the winter will start in the SAC at 3:15 .
