PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Eight years ago, with a capacity of 1200 kids, Tenacity implemented the “Rallying to Serve” initiative, a multifaceted growth plan targeting 5,000 participants by 2009. Thanks to the support of contributors, volunteers, staff and key strategic partners, we have reached that target a year early—in 2008.
Rapid as our growth has been, it is equally gratifying to consider how Tenacity has evolved over this time frame. In the process we’ve become far more effective in helping at-risk kids get on track, stay on track and chart new life trajectories.
For example, when we initiated the After-School Excellence Program (ASEP) program back in the fall of 1999, academic tutoring was an important part of our life skills approach. Many of the kids selected for ASEP were struggling in school and thus homework help seemed the logical approach in off-court study sessions.
We quickly discovered, however, that homework tutoring was a band-aid approach to more fundamental problems of academic performance. As result, Tenacity developed a robust curriculum centered on literacy that we continue to expand and refine today.
Educational research shows that literacy is the core capability necessary to building academic self-confidence and accomplishment in the short and long term. That has certainly been our experience in observing overall school performance rapidly improve alongside literacy skills.
In adopting literacy as a core objective, Tenacity has been better able to measure academic progress at the individual and program levels. In recognition of these efforts, Tenacity was the first sports-based program in Massachusetts to earn the Department of Education’s designation as a “Supplemental Education Services Provider.”
Building relationships is also a critical component of Tenacity’s ongoing success. A decade ago much of our energies flowed toward stimulating enrollment in programs. Now we are formally involved in sustaining relationships with Tenacity students and families during and after program participation.
For example, Tenacity staff play a vital role in facilitating communication between our partner schools and current participant families, most of whom are juggling multiple jobs with, in many cases, the added complications of cultural and language barriers. Likewise, Alumni Services staff assists past participants with high school requirements as well as college and financial aid applications, job searches, and broader issues of personal and professional development.
Tenacity today is bolstering the rapid participation growth of the past decade with a deepening of program quality and effectiveness. This represents the final stage in our “Rallying to Serve” initiative. We hope that you will stay in touch with Tenacity during these efforts and assist us however you can.
Sincerely,
Edward W. Eames
President & Founder, Tenacity
