America SCORES Boston empowers under-resourced youth to create positive change in their lives, in their communities and around the world. Our innovative blend of soccer, academic support and enrichment programs improve students' health, academic engagement and global citizenship. SCORES serves over 1,400 youth each year and is one of the largest and fastest growing school-based after-school programs in Boston.
Our programs, offered in grades K-12, feature:
Girls & Boys Soccer: Boston's exclusive provider of the U.S. Soccer Foundation's "Soccer for Success" program.
Poetry: Nationally recognized "Power of Poetry" program.
Service-Learning: Younger students participate in our "Writing for the Community" program to complete local service projects while older students participate in our flagship service-learning program, "One Hen Academy". [Read about our recent One Hen acquisition.]
Why SCORES?
Keeping Kids Safe: 21 percent of Massachusetts K-12 youth are entirely unsupervised in the afternoon (Afterschool Alliance, 2006). Youth who are not enrolled in after-school programs during these hours are 50 percent more likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol, 3 times more likely to skip classes, and 5 times more likely to be “D” students (Afterschool Alliance, 2007). America SCORES Boston keeps Boston youth safe and supervised during the high-risk after-school hours, and helps them develop the vital life skills they need to succeed in the future.
Promoting Health: In communities in Massachusetts, the childhood obesity rate is 35 percent (Mass. Health Policy Forum, 2008). Children are also not getting the exercise they need. The students attending Boston schools with SCORES programs attend physical education class only 45 minutes each week in elementary school, and 115 minutes per week in middle school (Boston Globe, 2009). Students in our programs exceed the recommended physical activity levels.
Improving Literacy: Boston Public School students are also not making the grade. On the 2009 statewide MCAS exam, 70 percent of BPS students in 3rd grade, 69 percent in 4th grade, 63 percent in 5th grade, 57 percent in 6th grade, 52 percent in 7th grade, and 41 percent in 8th grade had scores “in need of improvement” or lower in English Language Arts (Mass. Dept. of Education, 2009). Students in our programs show across-the-board improvement of their writing.
Fostering Community Leadership: Youth who volunteer in their communities are more likely to abstain from drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, succeed in school, graduate from high school, and vote (Afterschool Alliance, 2004). They are 50 percent more likely to say that they will probably graduate from college, and two times as likely to discuss world affairs with adults (Corporation for National & Community Service, 2007). Students in our programs complete hands-on community service projects, are more aware of global issues and donate profits from a small business they created themselves from a micro-loan for social good.
