Nevon Christian says the legacy he and his soccer teammates left behind this fall would not have been possible without the community's investment.
Nebon, a senior at KIPP Bold City High School, watched the ribbon cutting at the school's football field on the West Side Wednesday morning.
“This is a blessing and an opportunity because it will help me and my teammates create a legacy to leave behind,” said Christian, who has been a student at KIPP Jacksonville since kindergarten. “People who come here may try to surpass us.”
The Jaguars Foundation, Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation, Carleton Construction and LISC Jacksonville teamed up to convert the charter school's infield into a football field and build a track that could serve as a community beacon.
Nevon, a 17-year-old with a 3.7 grade point average, said track and field keeps her motivated and motivated.
“Being here, playing sports, being with my teammates, I feel a bond, working together and trying to do my best,” Nebon said.
Earlier this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a paper suggesting that the specialization of youth sports is causing many children to drop out of sports by the age of 13. The field is sandwiched between KIPP Jacksonville's Bold City High School and Bessie Coleman Academy, which educates students from kindergarten through her eighth grade.
KIPP Jacksonville's incoming executive director Melissa Fulmore said the effort to build a football field, track field and renovated gymnasium is part of the school's ethos to focus on the whole child. .
Fulmore said the investments from area leaders in professional sports, construction and the nonprofit sector exemplify who students can become after graduation. Matt Carlton, founder of Carlton Construction, Whitney Meyer, Jaguars chief community impact officer, and Irvin “Pedro” Cohen, executive director of LISC Jacksonville, are all leaders in the area's public I have graduated from high school.
“Our kids are good,” Fulmore said. “Sometimes the way we value them and the way the world works doesn't always show that brilliance. This is very meaningful because it gives them an opportunity to change the trajectory (of their lives). They They can still come back and be a teacher, be the next executive director of Kip Jacksonville, be mayor, be a city council member. We want to show them this is a great place. We want them to believe they should come back and invest.”
Last year, LISC Jacksonville applied for and received a $75,000 grant from the Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation to help build a football field and track field.
The synthetic field surface is located in the infield of what was the Jacksonville Kennel Club for more than 70 years.
KIPP Jacksonville purchased the property from the Jacksonville Kennel Club in 2009. Over the past 15 years, the charter school has expanded to 2,800 students across its four campuses. Students primarily live in northwest Jacksonville and the West Side.
The dog track, amidst the echoing sounds of railroad tracks, was not a place for West Side children to nurture their dreams.
Shavar Jeffries has worked as an educational choice advocate for more than 20 years. Jeffries, who is now CEO of the KIPP Foundation, was one of hundreds of students, faculty, parents and leaders who gathered on a sunny morning off MacDuff Street.
Nevon was one of them. Next year, he will be part of Jacksonville's first high school graduating class at KIPP. He represents the future that Jeffries and his colleagues have sought to foster in charter schools in 30 cities across the country.
“This was a place where people bet and gambled because they had dreams and they didn't feel they could afford the jobs and opportunities available to make those dreams come true,” Jeffries said. Told. “They bet and have hope that maybe they can win the dog race and step into their dreams.
“What we have done now is transform that space into a field of dreams and ensure that the children we serve have a safe and inviting place where they can be nurtured, developed and reach their potential.” It’s about being able to demonstrate that.”
Lead image: The Jaguars Foundation, Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation, Carleton Construction, and LISC Jacksonville are teaming up to transform the infield at KIPP Jacksonville Public Schools into a soccer field and track that could become a beacon for the community. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
