BTSP Students Put in Time Year Round

BTS-Philly stresses the importance of training year-round in order to make gains while potential opponents are content to take time off. This concepts is one of many that are encouraged within the sport of wrestling, but also transcend the mat into life and academics. With that theme in mind the BTS-Philly mentoring center established The Summer Scholars program, comprised of the most committed student-athletes within the Mentoring Program with the goal of continuing to develop academic skills over the summer. During this past summer we divided the Summer Scholars into two groups: Middle School students and High School students, each with its own specific goals. The Middle School group consisted of 10 student-athletes who attended small group sessions in a classroom setting, with a very strong ratio of instructors to students. The class was taught by Mentoring Program Director, Chris Chambers, and included 4 experienced BTS-Philly mentors supporting the learning environment as teachers’ assistants. The primary goals of the class were to develop Math and Language Arts skills in order to best prepare students for the transition to high school. The Math component consisted of mainly Pre-Algebra and Algebra skills in accordance with the Keystone standards as well as PA Common Core. For the Language Arts component students read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens”, which served a dual role. Students were able to practice comprehension and expressing themselves through writing and discussion in class, while the content of the book itself taught basic life skills that are conducive to happiness and successful lifestyles. Each of the High School Summer Scholars participants received one-on-one tutoring from experienced BTS-Philly Mentors toward improving SAT scores, as many of them were approaching their senior year. Each day the high school students received their tutoring while the middle school students participated in class simultaneously. Finally, the middle school and high school groups would come together at the end of each day for 30 minutes of nutrition taught by Joe Stanzione, Asst Coach for Drexel University Wrestling and studying to complete his Master’s degree in nutrition. BTS- Philly recognizes the commitment that the wrestlers have made to the program and more importantly themselves. These individuals have shown great improvement in academics and wrestling. The sacrifices that have been made by the wrestlers to better themselves was rewarded with an end of the beach trip. The talent, commitment, and determination that has been displayed year- round is special and BTS- Philly is proud of everyone who participated. Many of the students that participated in this program have already realized the benefits with strong starts in the classroom and in preparation on the mat for the upcoming season.