STEPN2OURLANE
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Mission Statement
Mission - Our mission is to enrich youths’ holistic educational experience by creating a structured and nurturing support system that fosters personal and academic development, community involvement, leadership, and appropriate decision making. Bridging The Gaps between education , sports, arts, and community. Vision - Filling the Lanes' vision is to engage the power of sport in order to bring together youth with positive mentorship, community engagement opportunities, and academic and social-emotional support. Goal - The goal of Filling The Lane is to align programs that inspire excelling athletes, nurture personal development and self-realization, and fill the lane between productive play on the (sports) field and appropriate decision-making.
About This Cause
Educational attainment level is considered one of the key factors in determining one’s earning potential and also plays a major role in obtaining a high-wage, high skill job. Increased levels of educational attainment begin by first graduating from high school but according to the Florida Department of Education, 1 in 6 low income students did not graduate high school in Polk County in the 2019-20 school year. Established in 2011, Filling the Lane, is a non-profit basketball league based in WInter Haven, FL. This program was developed to help qualifying youth offset the activity cost associated with athletic participation and team travel but has evolved into a holistic approach of supporting youth to reach their educational and personal goals. Through team sports, positive mentorship, community engagement opportunities and academic and social-emotional support, Filling the Lane is bridging the gap between sports, education, arts and community. Filling the Lane hybrids the sport of basketball, academic/personal workshops, and community service projects to provide a platform for holistic development. The goal is to supply each student-athlete and their family the resources to make improvements, not only on the court but in life. Filling the Lane focuses on empowering youth to reach their full potential, breaking down barriers to success, and creating an equitable and supportive environment in which youth can grow and achieve. We feel that sports are the best way to connect with youth, and enfold them in the community. We want to keep youth safe, keep them inspired, and connect them with mentors, encouraging and making their path easier toward higher education.The Filling the Lane program has seen impressive results: of our class of 2021 players, 85 % received a 3.0 or higher GPA, 100% graduated high school on time and 96% enrolled in college. Filling the Lane consists of 6 basketball teams and hosts local tournaments as well as providing participants the opportunity to go out on the road to compete in travel tournaments throughout the state and the country. Each team participates in at least 10 tournaments each season, 5 of which are travel tournaments. Participating in sports has many positive benefits for youth including improving physical health, improved academic performance, and social-emotional development. Sports help youth set a foundation for a healthy lifestyle. The physical benefits of participating in sports include reducing body fat, controlling body weight, and strengthening bones. Developing an active lifestyle in players' youth will lay the foundation for a healthy lifestyle as an adult. Studies have also shown a direct correlation between physical activity and academic performance. A University of Kansas study looking at the performance of students in grades 9 to 12 showed that more than 97% of student athletes graduated high school, 10% higher than those students who had never participated in sports. Athletes were also shown to have better GPA outcomes than non-athletes. Sports also increase emotional development. The exercise that is associated with playing sports can lead to increased concentration, better memory, enhanced creativity, more effective problem solving, improved mood and helps fight depression and anxiety. In addition to the positive effects that participating in team sports can have on youth, as a part of the travel tournament experience, players take tours of local colleges and universities where the tournament is held, participate in a cultural experience, including visits to museums and historic sites and visit a local restaurant for a fine dining experience. Recently, players have had the opportunity to visit colleges including Florida State College, Tennessee University, Morehouse Spelman College, University of Florida, University of Oklahoma and Florida A&M University. For many players this may be the only opportunity they have to tour colleges. While on tournament trips players have also had the opportunity to visit museums and cultural centers including the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, the Ponce City Market, Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum, the Florida Department of Education, Florida History Museum, National Black Baseball Museum, NCAA Museum, and more. In order to close the achievement gap between our players and their more affluent peers, Filling the Lane takes a four tiered approach to academic development: Developmental Advising, Mentoring, Tutoring & Senior Year Programming. Coaches create a personal and academic achievement plan with each player and check in bi-weekly to see what progress is being made towards the goals set by players. Academic Road Mapping (Advising) - Developmental advising is used to ‘fill the lane’ between traditional guidance counselors and college admissions. Players create a road map toward the goal of college acceptance. The goal for developmental academic advising is to foster forward thinking in our players around the path to college which they can use to hold themselves accountable through the process of admissions. Mentoring Program - Filling the Lane fosters mentoring relationships between players and positive adult role models. Mentoring can provide players the opportunity to learn positive values, helping them to avoid negative behaviors and achieve success. Mentorships capitalize on the knowledge, referrals, supervision, and support of the positive adults in our community. Tutoring - Tutors will be available to players for study needs and the improvements of classwork and test scores. Players will learn one of the most important skills needed for success in college, time management. Students with failing grades will not be eligible to play in tournaments but will continue to receive tutoring and academic support. Senior Year Programming - Filling the Lane is committed to preparing each one of our players for the challenges of higher education. Workshops are held in order to increase players knowledge in the following subject areas: Identifying and applying for scholarships Essay writing Researching and choosing a college Completing college applications Myths and expectations of college Identifying and applying for financial aid Budgeting SAT/ACT Registration and prep Developing a sense of community in our players is paramount to Filling the lane. Filling the lane facilitates service projects for our players throughout the year. We involve them with community service projects in partnership with organizations including: The Boys and Girls Club, Imprint Ministries, and the Theatre of Winter Haven. Players have participated in back to school drives, turkey drives at Thanksgiving, food and hygiene product drives for local schools, packing care packages for the elderly and military and feeding healthcare workers during the pandemic. Finally, program staff work in coordination with parents and caregivers to remove barriers to health services for players. Filling the lane partners with Ceria Sanders, a therapist at Chrysalis Health, in order to provide free mental health counseling to players. Dr. Max Fori of Fori Dental also provides no-cost dental services to players in need. The goals of the Filling the Lane program include: Providing opportunities for all students to feel a sense of achievement. To provide supplemental curriculum and instruction to meet the academic needs of students for academic success. Reducing student failure and potential dropouts increasing likelihood or post-secondary enrollment Involving parents/caretakers and community resources in meeting the needs of underserved students. Through these goals players will leave the Filling the Lane program feeling prepared and confident in their ability to pursue advanced education and gainful employment. By closing the achievement gap, players will graduate high school on time and enroll in post-secondary education, paving the way for a brighter future not only for players, but for our community. The success of the Fill the Lane program will be measured by the following outcomes: 90% of the high school senior aged participants will graduate high school in the 2021-22 school year based on self report. 90% of the high school senior aged participants will enroll in college immediately following high school in the 2021-22 school year based on self report. 75% of Fill the Lane participants will have an average GPA of 3.0 or higher in the 2021-22 school year based on self report. 90% of all participants will report that they have built a positive relationship with an adult from Fill the Lane in the 2022 season based on participant surveys.