circulating the game of baseball right now, it's nice to know that stuff like this goes on behind the scenes....
The Good Guys: Athletes who care
By Paul Attner
The Sporting News
Driven by a desire to give back to the community, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter created a foundation that assists at-risk youngsters. His efforts, along with those of his parents and sister, reap real results and make him No. 1 on TSN's annual list of The Good Guys in pro sports.
Some were 9 years old and already obese. Some were 9 and practiced selective mutism; they chose to not talk -- to not say one word ever -- during school. Some were 9 and so defiant they were one tantrum from expulsion.
They were 9 and headed nowhere, growing up in the dead end of upper Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood, squeezed every day for space to play in and headed for a future within a universe filled with drugs, crime and neglect.
They were the most challenging of the 1,300 youngsters at PS 128, intentionally tossed together into an extraordinary school program. They were linked by a shared vision.
The vision of a psychiatric social worker who saw optimism where others saw calamity.
The vision of a baseball star who understood need instead of greed.
The vision of a family who chose involvement rather than the safety of indifference.
On this spring day at PS 128, the progress created by this vision is romping in an auditorium filled with the sounds of a bat smacking a foam ball and children giggling and scrambling to make a catch. Eight months earlier, these 23 youngsters rather would have fought each other than play in harmony. Or they might have sat and did nothing. Or said nothing.
But on this day, they behave, follow direction and talk and enjoy every moment of this baseball game forced inside because their school has no playground.
Their activity is stopped by a young woman with flashing eyes and vibrant energy in her voice. "Everyone," she says, "please pay attention. You remember Mr. and Mrs. Jeter, don't you? Say 'hi' to them."
The youngsters respond quickly. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Jeter," they say in unison.
Evelyn Montanez smiles. This is her program, these are her kids. She is the social worker with a Ph.D. in clinical social work who conceived of this holistic program that blends nutrition, physical activity, tutoring, mental health counseling, education and parent and teacher involvement. And it has worked.
Kids are learning to eat better, to draw more out of exercise and to play sports. In the process, they are being taught to behave and to socialize more easily. Kids who wouldn't talk are speaking. Mothers who knew nothing about nutrition are reading can labels. Fathers who never came to school are participating. Families are running in races. They are attending health fairs. Teachers and staffers who never felt included in any programs are enrolled in yoga and aerobics classes, exercising alongside parents. Kindergartners who couldn't speak or write English are doing both, thanks to intense instruction. Two mental health clinicians are on site, as is a psychiatrist.
Montanez steps back and watches as the Jeters, Charles and Dorothy, wave to the children and talk to them.
At Yankee Stadium, a five-minute ride from PS 128, their son, Derek, is about to play another game as the star shortstop of the most dominant team in baseball. His parents run his charitable foundation; it is called Turn 2, in honor of double plays, his number and the Jeters' hope people will turn to them for help. His sister, Sharlee, directs its myriad programs. It is the most unique athlete-initiated foundation in sports -- family-based, family-directed, successful beyond anything the family had envisioned, helping to develop pilot school-related programs that have the potential to become national models.
PS 128 is why Derek Jeter is The Sporting News' 2002 No. 1 Good Guy in pro sports. Jackie Robinson Center in Harlem is why. And Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx and Lincoln International Studies School in Kalamazoo, Mich. -- all places where Turn 2-backed programs are flourishing. Jeter's Leaders is why -- teenagers in New York and Kalamazoo are groomed as Derek stand-ins, serving and mentoring in their communities as his representatives. Significant inroads are being made with needy children in all those places, inroads impossible without the diligence and generosity of Derek, his family and their foundation.
What began as a discussion between father and son six years ago over pizza in a hotel room has become a foundation bursting with exciting ideas to counter the exploding problems of at-risk urban youngsters. This is a foundation driven by the son's desire to give back, his father's amazing networking abilities and his mother's gift of balancing practicality and attention to detail with genuine concern for the youngsters they serve.
"What has happened to the foundation is above and beyond what I ever envisioned," Derek says. "Now we want to become a pioneer, setting some kind of standard with some of these programs. I never conceived of the direction we've taken, but I want it to continue. We are reaching a lot of kids, and I am very proud of it."
They are reaching the kids at PS 128. "The pathology in this community is unspeakable," says Montanez. "But Turn 2 has opened the door to do so many things in this school. Because they are here, we are touching so many lives. When you have a child who was so flat now smiling, or when you have a child who was passive now going for the ball, or you have a child who wouldn't speak now talking out, you say, 'yes.' "
She pauses, laughs and yells it this time: "YES!"
'COMMITTED TO A PURPOSE'
Derek Jeter grew up idolizing Dave Winfield, one of the first athletes to start a charitable foundation. Early on, Derek decided if he ever became shortstop of the Yankees -- that was his goal from the start -- he would have a foundation, just like his hero.
Charles Jeter has a master's in social work and a Ph.D. in sociology. His professional life has included counseling and combating many of the same problems the foundation is fighting. When his son and he discussed starting the foundation, it was natural for Derek to gravitate to these areas. They agreed the focus had to be on kids.
"But we weren't going to start a bootleg foundation," Derek says. "I wanted it to have some meaning. I wanted it to be something the family could do together. And it had to be hands-on. I just didn't want to give money; I wanted to be involved. Otherwise, I could have just been another United Way. And I have the best parents in the world. I could trust them.
"Plus," he says impishly, "now I could boss them around for a change."
Since its beginning in late 1996, Turn 2 has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants. The bulk of its time and money now is concentrated on what the Jeters call "signature" programs, in which the foundation partners with groups and corporations to do its work. No Turn 2 funding decision is made without extensive research; the Jeters lean heavily on guidance from a resource council of outside experts.
The Good Guys: Athletes who care
By Paul Attner
The Sporting News
Driven by a desire to give back to the community, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter created a foundation that assists at-risk youngsters. His efforts, along with those of his parents and sister, reap real results and make him No. 1 on TSN's annual list of The Good Guys in pro sports.
Some were 9 years old and already obese. Some were 9 and practiced selective mutism; they chose to not talk -- to not say one word ever -- during school. Some were 9 and so defiant they were one tantrum from expulsion.
They were 9 and headed nowhere, growing up in the dead end of upper Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood, squeezed every day for space to play in and headed for a future within a universe filled with drugs, crime and neglect.
They were the most challenging of the 1,300 youngsters at PS 128, intentionally tossed together into an extraordinary school program. They were linked by a shared vision.
The vision of a psychiatric social worker who saw optimism where others saw calamity.
The vision of a baseball star who understood need instead of greed.
The vision of a family who chose involvement rather than the safety of indifference.
On this spring day at PS 128, the progress created by this vision is romping in an auditorium filled with the sounds of a bat smacking a foam ball and children giggling and scrambling to make a catch. Eight months earlier, these 23 youngsters rather would have fought each other than play in harmony. Or they might have sat and did nothing. Or said nothing.
But on this day, they behave, follow direction and talk and enjoy every moment of this baseball game forced inside because their school has no playground.
Their activity is stopped by a young woman with flashing eyes and vibrant energy in her voice. "Everyone," she says, "please pay attention. You remember Mr. and Mrs. Jeter, don't you? Say 'hi' to them."
The youngsters respond quickly. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Jeter," they say in unison.
Evelyn Montanez smiles. This is her program, these are her kids. She is the social worker with a Ph.D. in clinical social work who conceived of this holistic program that blends nutrition, physical activity, tutoring, mental health counseling, education and parent and teacher involvement. And it has worked.
Kids are learning to eat better, to draw more out of exercise and to play sports. In the process, they are being taught to behave and to socialize more easily. Kids who wouldn't talk are speaking. Mothers who knew nothing about nutrition are reading can labels. Fathers who never came to school are participating. Families are running in races. They are attending health fairs. Teachers and staffers who never felt included in any programs are enrolled in yoga and aerobics classes, exercising alongside parents. Kindergartners who couldn't speak or write English are doing both, thanks to intense instruction. Two mental health clinicians are on site, as is a psychiatrist.
Montanez steps back and watches as the Jeters, Charles and Dorothy, wave to the children and talk to them.
At Yankee Stadium, a five-minute ride from PS 128, their son, Derek, is about to play another game as the star shortstop of the most dominant team in baseball. His parents run his charitable foundation; it is called Turn 2, in honor of double plays, his number and the Jeters' hope people will turn to them for help. His sister, Sharlee, directs its myriad programs. It is the most unique athlete-initiated foundation in sports -- family-based, family-directed, successful beyond anything the family had envisioned, helping to develop pilot school-related programs that have the potential to become national models.
PS 128 is why Derek Jeter is The Sporting News' 2002 No. 1 Good Guy in pro sports. Jackie Robinson Center in Harlem is why. And Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx and Lincoln International Studies School in Kalamazoo, Mich. -- all places where Turn 2-backed programs are flourishing. Jeter's Leaders is why -- teenagers in New York and Kalamazoo are groomed as Derek stand-ins, serving and mentoring in their communities as his representatives. Significant inroads are being made with needy children in all those places, inroads impossible without the diligence and generosity of Derek, his family and their foundation.
What began as a discussion between father and son six years ago over pizza in a hotel room has become a foundation bursting with exciting ideas to counter the exploding problems of at-risk urban youngsters. This is a foundation driven by the son's desire to give back, his father's amazing networking abilities and his mother's gift of balancing practicality and attention to detail with genuine concern for the youngsters they serve.
"What has happened to the foundation is above and beyond what I ever envisioned," Derek says. "Now we want to become a pioneer, setting some kind of standard with some of these programs. I never conceived of the direction we've taken, but I want it to continue. We are reaching a lot of kids, and I am very proud of it."
They are reaching the kids at PS 128. "The pathology in this community is unspeakable," says Montanez. "But Turn 2 has opened the door to do so many things in this school. Because they are here, we are touching so many lives. When you have a child who was so flat now smiling, or when you have a child who was passive now going for the ball, or you have a child who wouldn't speak now talking out, you say, 'yes.' "
She pauses, laughs and yells it this time: "YES!"
'COMMITTED TO A PURPOSE'
Derek Jeter grew up idolizing Dave Winfield, one of the first athletes to start a charitable foundation. Early on, Derek decided if he ever became shortstop of the Yankees -- that was his goal from the start -- he would have a foundation, just like his hero.
Charles Jeter has a master's in social work and a Ph.D. in sociology. His professional life has included counseling and combating many of the same problems the foundation is fighting. When his son and he discussed starting the foundation, it was natural for Derek to gravitate to these areas. They agreed the focus had to be on kids.
"But we weren't going to start a bootleg foundation," Derek says. "I wanted it to have some meaning. I wanted it to be something the family could do together. And it had to be hands-on. I just didn't want to give money; I wanted to be involved. Otherwise, I could have just been another United Way. And I have the best parents in the world. I could trust them.
"Plus," he says impishly, "now I could boss them around for a change."
Since its beginning in late 1996, Turn 2 has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants. The bulk of its time and money now is concentrated on what the Jeters call "signature" programs, in which the foundation partners with groups and corporations to do its work. No Turn 2 funding decision is made without extensive research; the Jeters lean heavily on guidance from a resource council of outside experts.
