Alexandria City Public School Principal Michael Routhouska (pictured above in back) spends his Thursday afternoons coaching lacrosse to 10 to 15 fourth and fifth graders who are members of the Move2Learn Lacrosse Club at a Title 1 elementary school. His co-coach is Wanda Weaver, pictured on left, a primo counselor at the school.
To participate in the club, students must have good attendance and be keeping up with their grades. It’s a good incentive because the students love to play! Principal Routhouska says he hopes these same kids will play at the high school level where he coaches as well.
Read what the Oxford Review of Education says about outside the classroom programs>>
As with all of our Outside the Classroom programs and clubs, the lacrosse club plays a big role in the well-being and social-emotional health of our students and are key to their academic growth. Why does this matter? Teacher-led OST programs are effective in improving academic performance and have been shown to measurably improve student outcomes with demonstrably higher grades.
Students in these programs show increased positive self-perception as well as a reduction in risky behavior, depression and delinquency— leading to better personal outcomes in school and life.
Some of what makes our programming unique:
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- Most students participating are hand-selected by their teachers because they’ve been identified as struggling in school, making our programs part of a student’s success plan;
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- Our programs are led by our school partners who have key relationships with students and know and understand their complex needs; and
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- Our OST programs incorporate social, emotional and academic lessons to teach students how to recognize and manage stress and other strong emotions by using movement.
These emerging lacrosse players are having fun and developing good disciplined skills both on and off the field. Nice job, everyone!
