By Rob Morrissey
NFL Player Engagement
This fall NFL Player Engagement, the Family League of Baltimore, and Frederick Douglass High School have teamed up to launch a new NFL PREP initiative called 1st & Goal. The 1st & Goal program focuses on supporting student-athletes with meeting and exceeding academic standards including improving grades (GPA), attendance, and graduation rates. The program supports the social-emotional growth of each athlete through a curriculum that focuses on financial literacy, character development, conflict resolution, mentoring, communications, and health, safety and wellness.
Under the guidance of a full-time Academic Coach, Michelle Harper, hired by NFLPE and the Family League of Baltimore, student-athletes will take part in incentivized tutoring during the athletic season. Student-athletes will have access to local NFL athletes, academic supplies and materials, and group trips and events with their families throughout the athletic season. Once the athletic season has concluded, student-athletes and their families engage with the 1st & Goal core curriculum for two hours a day, three times a week, continually for 20 weeks. Community-based activities during the offseason may include college tours and service learning trips. Tutoring continues at least two times a week and SAT prep programs are then added to the academic curriculum.
“Family League is excited to partner with NFLPE to pilot the 1st & Goal initiative at Frederick Douglass High School,” stated Alexandria Warrick-Adams, the Program Director of Community School & Engagement with the Family League of Baltimore. “With this opportunity, we were able to co-design a program that brings an academically focused extended learning program to student-athletes. As the implementing partner for this investment, Family League will provide leadership, technical assistance, ongoing evaluation, and analysis of the program. Family League currently supports the implementation of a Community School at Douglass through our Community & School Engagement Strategy.”
“The Community & School Engagement Strategy is Family League’s dual investment in community schools and out of school time programs,” Warrick-Adams continued. “Through this strategy, community-based organizations use funding from FLBC to partner with Baltimore City Public Schools to place a full-time coordinator at schools to focus on leveraging resources and partnerships that impact attendance, climate and culture, and family engagement. This is the structure that we believe will ensure the success of the student-athletes in this program. Frederick Douglass is partnered with Druid Heights CDC to implement this strategy.”
The 1st & Goal program promotes NFLPE’s Total Wellness initiative for the participating student-athletes and their families. The 360-degree experience provided by the program will demonstrate that athletics can act as a catalyst towards leading a successful and healthy life. Ultimately, the three active partners hope to see an increase in the number of strong, empowered, and successful graduates of Frederick Douglass High School both on and off the athletic field.
“On the brink of change, we, at Douglass, are excited about this amazing opportunity to partner with such great organizations to enact change in the lives of young people,” said Dr. Antonio Hurt, Campus Principal at The Academies at Frederick Douglass. “When communities and organizations collaborate on behalf of young people, real community transformation begins. At Douglass, we believe that our athletes must be students first, and this partnership affirms the comprehensive development of young men in the West Baltimore community. The development of a comprehensive student-athlete program is going to catapult the football experience here at Douglass. We are excited!”