
Fellowship Programs are the new big thing for college graduates. There are quite a few highly competitive programs like Teach for America, New York City Teaching Fellows, and The New Teacher Project that focus on turning new college grads into teachers in low-income public schools. What about coaching? Athletics has become significantly linked to education in America, and it is also one of the few areas where low-income schools can be on par with their well funded counterparts. Sounds to us like there’s an opportunity to initiate change there. Coaches often seem more accessible to students than teachers are, so why not put the same types of young leaders that are being recruited as teachers in coaching positions at high needs schools and see what happens? That’s what Philip Kovoor wants to do with National Coaching Fellows, the non-profit organization that he recently started. Continue reading about National Coaching Fellows…

At the time that this post is set to publish, I should be off to my first softball game of the Spring, unless we get rained out (which is unfortunately looking likely). Now, I consider my Sunday morning softball games to be an “educational experience,” but the truth of the matter is that my team consists mostly of dirty old men who are 20-40 years my senior, and all I learn from them are new ways to insult people and other forms of colorful language. Still, Sunday softball is a good way to keep me off the streets and out of trouble. Harlem RBI does the same thing for inner-city kids, while also offering educational programs. I sure hope the kids in Harlem RBI are having a more meaningful educational experiences associated with their baseball and softball than I am. Continue reading about Harlem RBI…