A teacher at Orchard Gardens K-8 School in Roxbury recently askedhis eighth- graders to write about the disenfranchised. The topichit home for Tomell Kelley, a refugee from the Liberian civil warwho has spent much of his youth raising himself while his mother hasstruggled to make ends meet.
Two years ago, Kelley was often absent or asleep in class,according to the staff at Orchard Gardens, one of the state's lowestperforming schools on standardized tests from 2003-10.
Now he is a prized student, one of many in the Boston middleschools who have turned around their lives, thanks in part to agroup of charitable young professionals who have committed more than$1 million over three years to create interscholastic sportsprograms for the city's 11,500 students in grades 6 to 8.
Bringing fun and competition to long-barren athletic venues, thenonprofit Play Ball Inc. has established football, baseball,volleyball, and double Dutch jump rope leagues throughout a cash-strapped system that previously offered middle schoolers onlybasketball and track.
School officials said the results have been striking - on thefield and in the classroom. Giving the children an athletic outletand team experience has helped many focus more effectively on theirstudies and to gain a more a optimistic outlook on life.
'To say that Play Ball and athletics have positively impacted theBoston schools understates everything that has happened,' saidAndrew Bott, principal of Orchard Gardens. 'It's a great example ofhow a partnership between a private foundation and a large publicschool system can benefit thousands of kids.'
In principle, Play Ball is similar to the nonprofit BostonScholar Athlete program, which Mayor Thomas M. Menino, with the helpof private philanthropy, established after a Globe series in 2009detailed widespread deficiencies in the city's underfunded athleticsystem. While the BSA has enhanced participation, playingconditions, and the academic performances of students in existinghigh school programs, Play Ball has addressed a major inequity formiddle schoolers by providing their first opportunities to playinterscholastic sports that have long been available to theirsuburban counterparts.
School Superintendent Carol Johnson said the program is vital tostrengthening the system's comprehensive commitment to sports,health, and wellness.
'With Play Ball's help, we are building a strong middle schoolathletic program that engages our young men and women in developingthe habits we are trying to establish with our scholar athletes inthe high schools,' Johnson said. 'We are leveling the playing fieldfor kids across the city.'
Kelley is one of six student athletes at Orchard Gardens whocredit Play Ball with helping them receive generous financial aidoffers from Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury andXaverian Brothers in Westwood. Kelley plans to attend CatholicMemorial, which this year will send nearly all its graduates to four-year colleges.
'My whole take on things has become more positive since I startedplaying football,' he said after acing his essay on thedisenfranchised. 'I used to look at school work as annoying and kindof a drag. Now I want to get my work done and see the reaction on myteacher's face when I do a good job.'
Two years into Play Ball's three-year commitment to the city, thefoundation has created 52 interscholastic sports teams at 22 middleschools. Additional teams are planned, according to Play Ball'sfounder, Mike Harney, who pledged to raise the money needed tosustain the program for years to come.
Harney, 31, a senior vice president of a downtown investmentbank, FBR & Co., has recruited 12 other young professionals as boardmembers since he created the foundation in 2006. They have fundedthe initiative through their business connections, as well asproceeds from the annual Santa Speedo Run and charity cruises inBoston Harbor.
'We want to make sure the program continues to grow,' saidHarney, a former lacrosse player at Concord-Carlisle High School andGeorgetown University, who lives in Charlestown. 'We want to showpeople how important it is to narrow the gap between theopportunities the kids receive in the city of Boston compared to thesuburbs.'
While Play Ball pays for uniforms, equipment, coaches, referees,and transportation, the school department provides insurance,scheduling, training for coaches, and monitors academic eligibility.Johnson helped by funding a new position in the athletic departmentdedicated to middle school sports.
By all accounts, the program has drawn praise throughout thesystem.
'Obviously, the economics of the day wouldn't allow the city todo what Play Ball is doing,' said Gary Palmieri, who has coachedPlay Ball teams at the Murphy K-8 School in Dorchester and DearbornMiddle School in Roxbury. 'Believe me, the teachers, coaches, andstudents recognize how special these opportunities are. We're allgrateful for them.'
Orchard Gardens is in the midst of an ambitious turnaroundproject that involves an array of new programs.
Bott said the school is improving thanks in part to a core ofstudents who have made good use of leadership skills they developedon Play Ball teams.
Kelley, whose mother speaks limited English and works long, hardhours as a hospital housekeeper, said his half-hearted approach toschool changed when he began playing football in seventh grade.
Substandard grades, poor attendance, tardiness, and disrespectfulbehavior carried consequences that suddenly mattered to him; eitherhe improved his school performance, or he couldn't play football.Kelley said he came to appreciate how much playing the sport madehim feel better about himself, his school, and his community.
'Football helped mold him into a man,' said Peter LeRoy, the deanof students at Orchard Gardens. 'Now he's a leader on the field andin the classroom.'
Kelley's teammate, Eric Hall, was accepted at both CatholicMemorial and his top choice among Boston public schools, SnowdenInternational at Copley.
He remains undecided.
'The chance to play football made everybody, including me, trytwice as hard in the classroom,' Hall said. 'We're definitely inbetter shape physically and mentally than we ever were.'
School officials across the city stressed the urgency of reachingat-risk students before they finish middle school.
'If they get to high school on the wrong path, it's very hard toreach them then,' said Sean McIndoo, who coaches baseball and isresponsible for student discipline at the Edwards Middle School inCharlestown. 'A lot of times, it's too late.'
McIndoo credits the fact that students must meet academic andbehavioral requirements to play sports for the dramatic changes inattitude he has witnessed among many student-athletes.
'It's amazing how the kids who were an issue before aren't anissue anymore,' he said. 'It builds up such amazing confidence andself-esteem for them to be able to do things they have never donebefore.'
Several high school coaches said they expect to reap the benefitsof the middle schoolers participating in Play Ball programs. Many ofthe students had never played an organized sport.
'One of the biggest problems you have as a high school coach inBoston is kids who don't know what it means to be on a team in termsof making the grades, showing up on time for school and practice,and being a good teammate,' said Paul Mahoney, who coaches baseballat the McCormack Middle School in Dorchester after more than 20years of coaching at city high schools. 'That's all changing now.'
It's changing for girls, too, as hundreds have joined middleschool volleyball and double Dutch teams.
One of the most heartening images has been eighth-graderNorioscar Cabello, who uses a wheelchair, playing an active role onthe Orchard Gardens volleyball team.
Cabello, whose teammates take turns pushing her wheelchair duringpregame running exercises, has emerged as one of the team's bestservers.
She said the experience has helped her conquer her fear ofembracing new challenges.
She has joined the Orchard Gardens dance ensemble and hasovercome her anxiety about entering a new school - the Edward M.Kennedy Academy for Health Careers at Northeastern University - inthe fall.
'This has been a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me,' Cabello said.'It has changed my life.'
Bob Hohler can be reached at hohler@globe.com.
