The Academic Edge: Inspiring Athletes to WIN in the Classroom!

In my work with students over the past twenty years, I’ve employed a variety of motivational metaphors to inspire academic excellence—but none of them work quite as well as my athletic references.  You see, I was supposed to be a boy….a son and an athlete.  So when I was growing up, my dad did the best he could with an artistic, shy little girl—but when I felt daunted and defeated, he would coach me, just like any athlete.  And it stuck.  As an adult, I have encountered several ‘personal’ losing seasons, but I’m known among my family and friends as being pretty tenacious.  I may be down, but I don’t give up—and I believe that this stubborn vision is because of those talks when my father would reference a great athlete or coach or team that faced the odds and walked away with some kind of victory…Maybe they didn’t leave the field with a championship win, but it was always an inspiring story—one to hang in the halls of history.

Which is one of the reasons why I’ve reached many of my students—not only did I attend their games and cheer at a variety of athletic events, but I was continually fascinated by both their individual investment in athletics and the drama of America’s teams.  I’ve found that this approach to connecting academics with sports is an excellent way to energize athletes to stay in the game at school.

Now I’m taking those themes and weaving them into a program called “The Academic Edge:  Inspiring Athletes to WIN in the Classroom!”  Many of my current students who are involved in sports are not as engaged in academics, but it’s NOT because they aren’t smart.  It’s NOT because they lack the intellectual ability.  It’s because they haven’t learned to translate the skills they’ve mastered on the court and on the field into the classroom.  “The Academic Edge” is a monthly coaching call that will focus on inspiring this excellence—and it’s free.

The first Wednesday evening of each month in the school year at 9PM/EST, I will sponsor an hour-long coaching call for athletes to learn a strategic school skill and then relate it to their experience in sports.  My hope is to have college athletes and other sports personalities make guest appearances as special highlights of the calls, and to encourage athletes to become actively engaged in their academic success and earn winning scores on homework, quizzes, essays, and tests.  “The Academic Edge” will help motivate students who succeed in sports to also SOAR scholastically—so that their future is one of bright options, regardless of injuries or other obstacles.

“Clifton Kickoff” will happen at the start of this school year, to launch an academic season of focus and vision.  Here is the Fall Schedule for 2011:

Sept 7th:  ORGANIZATION

Oct 5:  PARTICIPATION

Nov 2:  COMMUNICATION

Dec 7:  COMPLETION

All students need in order to participate in this opportunity is commitment through our Facebook page and a phone—I will provide a free conference line, and record the call so that it is available online for others as a later reference.  If you know an athlete who might benefit from some academic inspiration, please give him or her this information.  In addition, if there is an athletic director or someone in sports who is a role model that you know personally, I would love to connect with that individual to be a “spotlight” for one of the calls, and appreciate your effort to make an introduction and send him or her my way!

The Clifton Corner is dedicated to inspiring young people to claim their unique gifts—both on the court and in the classroom.  Please join us in this new effort to reach athletes and inspire excellence!