State laws mandate that student athletes maintain an above passing grade to
play sports....you don't pass, you don't play
Take the time to do the research on Inner City/crime ridden/low scored schools
and how athletics play a role, you'll be surprised how positive it is
Thank you,
C. Brian Watkins
cbrianwatk...@gmail.com
-----Original Message-----
From: "wernerapnj" <wernera...@yahoo.com>
Sender: AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:39:15
To: <AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com>
Reply-To: AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AsburyPark] Re: How others see Asbury Park....
Is participation in athletics contingent upon maintaining a set standard of
academic performance ?
I would think that is the case - sports should be a reward for good grades.
However I cant help but wonder how the sports performance can be so good and
the academic performance so bad... perhaps there is no such requirement ?
If that is the case - then that is the root of the problem -
Astro-Turf, Blue Paint and a (bastardized) historic stadium is not the solution.
My vision - CLOSE THE HIGH SHOOL - send the students to adjacent high schools.
Re-open the building as a Regional Vocational Education Center..
Automotive, Building Trades, Culinary (already exists), Arts, Law, Sports,
Business.... etc.
This would be a magnet location for all of Monmouth County and the 'reward' for
performing well at local High Schools.
The State $$$ currently being spent would be put to better use in this
direction.
Werner
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, Educating for Justice <jim@...> wrote:
>
> Werner,
>
> Thanks for posting the article about the football field. I just posted a
> response on the APP website to those who were critical of this project.
>
> Here is what I wrote....
>
> ###
> Let me preface my comments by saying that I am a former City Councilman in
> Asbury Park and that I coached for one season at the high school.
>
> For people who do not live in Asbury Park and do not work with the kids in
> the city, I think it is difficult to grasp how little leverage teachers and
> community leaders have over kids here. Basically, many of the kids in town
> feel they have nothing to lose, thus the poor graduation rates, crime,
> gangs, etc. To turn this tide, that leverage has to be created. Now, some
> might say, "it has to start with the families." If this is your response, I
> would say that you are very much out of touch with the reality that we face.
> Too many families here are horrifically dysfunctional at best (i.e. this is
> not a starting point).
>
> So, why does having a good athletic facility make sense to address the
> broader social and economic concerns that have been raised by critics here?
>
> 1. You create a first class football program and now the kids have a shot
> at something through football - college. They do not want to lose this.
> They love the game. The game can carry them beyond Asbury Park. They now
> have something to lose - thus, we adults have leverage. Go to class, get
> good grades, don't get arrested, etc. This all starts to make sense to them
> when they have something to lose.
>
> 2. You keep those good athletes engaged and passing their classes, now they
> are eligible for other sports - basketball, wrestling, baseball. Now you
> have them locked into positive activities year-round. Keeps them off the
> streets.
>
> 3. These kids are natural leaders. They are either going to lead in
> something positive or something negative. Once they start leading in the
> positive stuff, the other kids will follow, now you start to build real
> momentum and you have a shot at turning the ship around.
>
> So, while a $700k outlay for a field may seem like a lot at first glance,
> it must be seen as an investment in turning around decades of crime, failure
> and neglect. Would you rather spend the $700k up front with a plan in place
> like the above or would you rather keep the cycle going and pay $50-100k per
> year per kid to have them locked up at Jamesburg?
>
> I could go on with the positive potential of this facility and will if
> asked, but I think readers should get a sense of why this is a very good
> thing for the AP community and for state taxpayers that are underwriting
> much of the school and municipal budgets in Asbury Park. I, like many
> others, want AP to become fiscally self-sufficient, this field, as strange
> as it may seem, can be a catalyst to move the city in that direction.
>
> Peace, Jim Keady
> ###
> --
> Jim Keady, Director
> Educating for Justice, Inc.
> jim@...
> 732.988.7322
> www.educatingforjustice.org
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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