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Dreams & Detours
2018-12-30

by Quinetta Bowden:
SquashSmarts Middle School Academic Director & SquashSmarts Class of 2009

"There are many important values, but passion is what drives my everyday life and actions. Passion steered my life in 2016. After completing two years with City Year, I had two job offers: one as a School Teacher in New Jersey, the other as an Academic Director for SquashSmarts.

I chose SquashSmarts.

Why? At the time, I was passionate about giving back to the youth program and family that had given me so much as a young student. I'm still quite certain my dream job is to teach 9th grade English – and choosing the job in NJ would have put me on a path toward that dream sooner – but at 24 I decided to take a detour...

A detour that lead me to discover something I'm even more passionate about than a dream job: SquashSmarts
To say that this program has given me a lot isn’t sufficient. When I joined SquashSmarts in 6th grade I was a very different person than I am now. I was more shy and reserved.

That doesn’t mean who I am now didn’t exist then, it was just buried under so much fear, concern and anxiety. 
SquashSmarts gave – and gives – me the space to be who I am and it now allows me to work with students and give them the space they need to be who they are. 
In middle school, this is especially important as many of our girls and boys are just starting to discover themselves, their identities and their passions.

Now my passion is to make sure those young people are kind to each another and kind to the space they are in, and to help each one of them stay and grow and learn in a safe, caring place.
In short, following my passion lead me to a dream I didn’t know I had: being 'me' in space that invites and encourages others to be who they are too.

On behalf of our SquashSmarts family, I want to thank you all of for making the dreams and the detours of our student-athletes - including mine - possible.

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A Holiday Week
2018-12-26

Sunday
A seven-year SquashSmarts graduate informed our staff she made the Dean’s List at Drexel University. We hugged her and told her she'd also been accepted to a summer internship at ABC News in NYC through the Squash and Education Alliance. 

Monday
A hard-working four-year SquashSmarts middle school student jumped for joy when she learned she'd been selected to SEA's 2018-19 High Performance Team. She’ll receive coaching and funding to travel, train, expand her horizons and maximize her potential.

Tuesday
SquashSmarts' Girls High School Team hosted a squash match against a newly formed local private school team. Fun fact: one-third of the opposing team's line up were SquashSmarts girls!

Wednesday
Six SquashSmarts alumni returned home at 1:00 AM from Massachusetts after helping run the world's largest junior squash tournament -- the US Junior Open -- with 900 players from 41 nations.

Thursday
A long-time SquashSmarts friend made a $250,000 planned gift to our Sustainability Fund, a law firm pledged $50,000 in Corporate EITC funds to support our Workforce Development Program, and a new academic tutor donated $250 to our Year End Appeal.

Friday
A SquashSmarts staff member opened his home during the holiday to an alumni facing a particularly challenging time, while the mother of a SquashSmarts student came to the aid of a staff member who was in need -- proving that our community is stronger, safer and kinder the more bridges we build to support each other.

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Five Fun Things
2018-12-06

SquashSmarts Archives

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#1... A Mother's Gift
Merylin Vega-Rivera, mother of SqSm 9th grader Francisco, created a FaceBook page to spread this message:

“SquashSmarts helps kids emotionally, mentally, and they look after the Children's Health...

I'm so happy for my son and this wonderful program because being a single and disabled mom it’s hard for me to be able to spend time like I wish I could with my son...

Thanks to this program my son stays out of trouble and gets out of the house to have fun... Please Donate.

#2... A Global Voice
In August, SqSm Community Impact Director Nabilla Ariffin was 1 of 20 young leaders invited to Lake Como, Italy by the International Youth Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University and Rockefeller Foundation to discuss 17 U.N. Global Sustainability Development Goals.
 
Last week, Nabilla was the sole non-profit representative invited to a round-table at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. to continue the conversation with city officials from around the U.S..

This Friday, Nabilla will host I.Y.F. President Susan Reichle during YouthBuild's Global Opportunity Summit in Philadelphia addressing youth unemployment.

Finally, the London-based International Youth Federation named Nabilla its Director for Bureau of Sports - a voluntary post connecting innovative sports leaders around the globe!

“Global change happens locally,” says Ariffin, “and each opportunity is a unique chance for me to showcase SquashSmarts' high-quality, high-impact work with kids.”

Press Release Here

#3... Intense Academics
Did You Know SquashSmarts Academic Directors:
- Teach a year-round curriculum?
- Run two academic sessions per day, 5 days per week?
- Meet with every child's parent, teacher and counselor?
- Give bus/subway tokens to high school students for every practice?
- Pick up and drive middle school students from school every day?
- Collect, track and discuss report cards with every child?
- Manage college placement, SAT and financial aid for every 12th graders?
- Manage high school placement for every 8th grader?
- Rely on 90+ volunteers to tutor students in our classrooms?
- Oversee two national academic essay contests?
- Support 70+ alumni through college, career and financial counseling?
- Organize 80+ summer opportunities for our student-athletes?

4... 2019 Pierce Junior Squash Tournament
89 kids from Washington state to Washington, D.C. gathered last weekend at SqSm for the 2018 Pierce Junior Silver, a US Squash-sanctioned tournament named in honor of the Pierce family and created to promote access and friendly competition among new, up-and-coming squash players.

5... SquashSmarts in Tennessee?
SquashSmarts 'flew south for the winter' thanks to Scenic City Squash Club Director Richard Millman who hired SqSm 7-year graduate Jose Rupert-Zayas to help create and coach four new school programs in Chattanooga, TN.

Check Out Jose's First Lesson