Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports
About the iMentor Partnership
The 2010-11 program year marks an expansion of our partnership with Academy for Careers in Sports: this year we the entire 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade classes will be paired with mentors.
iMentor began our partnership with Careers in Sports in spring 2008, where the program was so successful that we expanded to include a full 11th and 12th grade cohort, matching all students for two years, through high school graduation. As the partnership strengthened, iMentor and Careers in Sports have come together to launch a brand new initiative: 4 year mentor-mentee matches for the entire 9th grade.
These 9th graders and their mentors--are participating in a pilot program designed to further increase mentee success. Launched in response to the HS drop-out crisis in NYC, where most students who drop out do so by 10th grade, iMentor and our partner sites believe a supportive mentor alongside a rigorous and supportive core education will contribute to student engagement and decrease the alarming attrition rate.
Working closely with Partner Site Administrations, including Principal Felice Lepore, Partnership Coordinator and Lead Teacher Sharon Aiuvalasit. iMentor NYC has developed specific 9th grade outcomes focused on building personal relationships to set the foundation for academic and career success.
iMentor’s success at Careers in Sports is a direct result of sincere administrative support from Principal Felice Lepore, whose enthusiasm has propelled the program into a core school activity. After the first Kick-Off Event, Principal Lepore wrote to share his excitement: “When I walked into the cafeteria the night my 11th grade students got to meet their mentors, I was shocked and amazed at the sight of 40+ students and mentors sitting across from each other talking about anything and everything. The following morning I was told that the conversations went on for an entire 2 hours. It was by far the highlight of this academic school year for me!”
iMentor sessions at Careers in Sports are known for being full of life and energy. In the 9th grade, iMentor sessions occur in the students’ Law class. Students utilize the email sessions to improve both their writing and typing skills, while they practice constructing formal emails to their mentors. In the 11th grade, iMentor sessions occur in a Business class and provide students insight into their future careers through conversations about their mentors’ careers. In 12th grade, iMentor sessions occur during an English class, where mentees practice their strong reading and writing skills to craft thoughtful, well-written emails. In these ways, the iMentor program complements the school’s curriculum by providing real-life practice and experience interacting with adults.
iMentor also supplements the comprehensive college preparation program at Careers in Sports. Students benefit from the college guidance office and Project Discovery, an after-school program focusing on college prep for low-income and first-generation college students. Emailing and speaking with mentors about college preparation and mentors’ college experiences through iMentor helps students to put the pieces together. With iMentor, students have an adult who has “been there, done that” who encourages them along the way!
In last year’s Careers in Sports Yearbook, the seniors dedicated a page to iMentor, in which they wrote the following: "Thanks to our mentors, we have grown more responsible, wise, and ready for the future. Without iMentor, it would have been much harder to get ready for these next important steps in our lives. Thank you."
iMentor couldn’t be happier about our partnership and look forward to many strong years ahead!
Travel Directions
Subway Directions
- Take the 2/4/5 to 149th street Grand Concourse
- Walk 4 blocks north on Grand Concourse
- Turn right on 153rd street
- School is on the right
About Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports
Founded in 2002, the Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports infuses education with the energy and enthusiasm that sports inspire in many youth. Its rigorous college preparatory curriculum leverages the connections between athletics and academics, including how sports have reflected the progress of the civil rights and women's rights movements, and how athletic excellence illuminates and tests the limits of human physiology. UASCS instills the ambition, discipline and skills necessary to succeed in careers such as marketing, management, law, medicine, journalism and broadcasting.
Although its name suggests a curriculum built around athletics, The Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports also provides a strong general education, with classes taught by gifted teachers adept at keeping kids' attention. The school is heavily male; 85 percent of the students are boys. Students continually strive:
- to prepare for successes in life;
- to respect themselves, their community, and their surroundings;
- to have pride in their own accomplishments, and in the accomplishments of their peers;
- to develop a work ethic that leads to competence and success in their chosen career;
- to listen to and value the opinions and thoughts of others;
- to develop and exercise their own voice in order to be heard throughout life;
- to welcome and confront challenge;
- to become someone who values education, personal integrity, good citizenship, teamwork, compassion, and love of family.
Students of The Academy for Careers in Sports will be guided by the understanding that every individual action in the classroom, the hallways, the playing fields, and outside of school will eventually shape their destiny.
Fun Facts
- The sports theme is brought into all subjects. To expose students to the professional possibilities in athletics, the school requires 9th and 11th graders to take classes where they learn about various sports careers. Seniors are expected to complete internships, which include working as a bat boy for the Yankees or assisting a Bronx City Council member.
- Careers in Sports is iMentor’s biggest partner site with over 300 pairs.
- Careers in Sports offers 18 different sports teams.
- The summer before their senior year, students attend a College Summit trip, where they spend four days together working hard and learning about the college process.
- Each year a Careers in Sports senior is selected bat boy for the New York Yankees.
- During the spring, select Careers in Sports students compete in the National Youth Physical Fitness competition in San Diego.
- Students must perform 50 hours of community service by graduation.
