Back to Grant Winners2008 UPA Grant Project
Pioneer Scholars Ultimate
By: Lauren Gardner and Ryan Schwartz
UPA Grant Award: $665
Project Summary
The Pioneer Scholars Ultimate project will be an expansion of a pilot program begun in Spring 2006 as a partnership between the Emily Krzyzewski Center and Brimstone (Duke University Men's Ultimate). The Emily K Center is a non-profit organization with a mission to inspire economically disadvantaged students to dream big, act with character and purpose, strive for academic excellence, and reach their highest potential as future citizen leaders. Our core Pioneer Scholars program serves 64 economically disadvantaged students in Grades 1-8 by providing intense academic interventions as well as leadership and character development. Last year, as Director of Operations I was looking for a program which would engage our Pioneer Scholars during a 6 session Parent Empowerment Workshop which their parents attended. In partnership with Ryan Schwartz, one of the Brimstone captains, we decided to implement an introduction to Ultimate for our students.
After only 6 sessions using UPA curriculum as well as some of our own drills, our kids were all able to throw and catch backhand, a number of them had strong forehands, and we were able to play a brief game. We also used the 6 Character Pillars (Heart, Hard Work, Integrity, High Expectations, Honesty, and Respect) which are the basis for our character education program to explain the importance of Spirit of the Game™. The sessions culminated with the presentation of 5 Spirit Award discs. We had overwhelming positive feedback from the kids. Many persuaded their parents to attend the parent sessions so that they could come to Ultimate. Even now, one of our stars (a 2nd grader with a perfect forehand after only one session) still begs me to take him to Ultimate practice when he sees me leaving in my gear. A number of students also researched the history of Ultimate and wrote articles for our literary journal about the subject.
We plan to begin the second year of this program in the spring. We are requesting an Innovation Grant to assist us in purchasing appropriate equipment to use during these sessions so that we can increase the number of kids involved and the depth of their learning.
