SquashScholars

Description

SquashScholars is an after-school tutoring, mentoring, and sports program. We use the game of squash for its contribution to a student's physical health, mental agility, and emotional growth as well as for its fun factor. Our primary goal is to help students achieve grade level and above academic performance and to develop a motivation and discipline that leads to their participation until high school graduation. We started Oct.1, 2007 with six students from Sullivan Middle School in south Minneapolis, where 80% of the students qualify for the free/reduced lunch program. We are now serving ten. Students come to the University of Minnesota Recreation Center for the after school program 2 weekdays per week, and on Saturday afternoons for field trips, community service projects, or special squash events. Weekday sessions will be organized as split sessions, with half of the students on the squash courts and the other half in the classroom. Halfway through the two-hour session, the two groups will switch places, so that each student has court time and class time each day.