High School student-athletes in the Atlanta Public School System are thriving in the classroom thanks to the Peach Bowl's academic mentoring program. The program is a core element in the Bowl's ongoing support of education and is a pillar for the Peach Bowl's best-in-class charitable giving initiatives.

The Peach Bowl's program, which is also supported by the College Football Playoff Foundation, provides an 'academic coach' to work with student-athletes in 11 inner-city high schools with the goals of keeping the student in school, helping to improve study habits and grade point averages, preparing for and completing college entrance exams, and transitioning into college. This academic coach also serves as a mentor, advocate, counselor, tutor and friend who works to assist student-athletes in maximizing their personal potential.

"When I first looked at this program, the first thing I said was, 'Why on earth wasn't this around when I was in school 30 years ago?'" said APS Athletics Director Jasper Jewell, whose primary role is to hire and manage the academic coaches for the mentoring program. "These academic coaches are extensions of the teachers and the classrooms. They get a chance to work with these kids on and off the field. Our kids are getting this wonderful resource from the Peach Bowl and the CFP Foundation, and it is incredible. It is priceless. It truly is."

The Play It Smart Academic Mentoring Program has seen strong results, most recently with participating seniors achieving a 97 percent graduation rate compared to 80 percent graduation rate for the rest of the district last year. These same seniors in the program also earned a GPA of 81.7 compared to 79.5 for their peers.

"Without the Peach Bowl and the Play It Smart mentoring program I would not be where I'm at today. They were the fuel to my fire that helped turn around my academic situation," said Nasir Lomax, a recent graduate of the program and former offensive lineman at Midtown High School. "If I hadn't received the extra help from the Peach Bowl and my academic coach, I wouldn't have been able to achieve what I achieved."

With $150,000 committed to the program each year, Peach Bowl, Inc. and the College Football Playoff Foundation are the only entities in the nation to fully fund an initiative like this for an entire school district, having contributed approximately $2.5 million to date in support of the program.

"Supporting children and education are two primary pillars in our philanthropic work and the Atlanta Public School System is a significant part of our effort. Since 2007, we're responsible for more than $3 million in funding for this and other programs to support APS," said Gary Stokan, Peach Bowl, Inc. CEO and president. "We want to continue to help educate and graduate these students to give them the best chance for success. Our bowl game was created to give back and we will continue to support APS and our other charitable partners as college football's most charitable bowl organization."

The program currently supports more than 460 APS student-athletes, with several recent program graduates having gone on to become recipients of the John Lewis Legacy of Courage Scholarship – Endowed by the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Bowl's endowed scholarship program provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in college scholarships each year for Title 1 high schools students and other Georgia students with severe financial need.

Beyond the improvement in grade point averages and graduation rates, the mentoring program is positively impacting the lives of these students in deeper ways. Those stories are best told from the perspective of the students helped by the program.
 

STUDENT STORIES:

Kari Burroughs

Outside linebacker Kari Burroughs is a hard working all-around student-athlete. After entering his senior year with a 2.8 GPA, he expressed a desire to work harder on his academics and boost his GPA with the hopes of pursuing a football career at the collegiate level. After joining the program, Kari made every effort to attend all tutorial sessions and SAT prep classes, with his academic coach giving him the motivation to strive for academic success. At midterms, he had pulled all his grades up to A's and B's thanks in large part to his academic coach's mentoring. Because of his hard work this year, Presbyterian College (South Carolina), expressed interest in him. Although Presbyterian doesn't offer football scholarships, they have offered him a $17,000 academic scholarship due to his improvement in the classroom thanks to his academic coach.



 

Nasir Lomax

Nasir Lomax was an offensive lineman at Midtown High School who began his high school career with a GPA of 1.8 and ended it with a full-ride scholarship to play Division One FCS football at Delta State University.

"Without the Peach Bowl I would not be where I'm at today. They were the fuel to my fire that helped turn around my academic situation. They taught me how to ask for help and communicate with teachers, so they would be willing to help. They also taught me how to improve my time management skills, something I lacked greatly in. Honestly, if I hadn't received the extra help from the Peach Bowl and my academic coach, I wouldn't have been able to achieve what I achieved. They were the extra voice in my ear that I needed. They were the ones who pushed me every day and made sure I was on the right track. The Play It Smart program is a great program. It helps kids who want to be helped and who are capable of being great."
 

Mike Hester

Mike Hester has been a part of Therrell High School's football program for four years and has been a starter for the last three seasons. As a freshman, Mike faced the same typical academic challenges most freshman encounter, such as time management and tackling rigorous classwork. Mike had to realize just how demanding and challenging high school can be, both in the classroom and as a student-athlete. During his first semester, Mike made all C's in his core classes and A's in his electives. The Play It Smart program helped Mike adjust to high school life by acquiring better time management skills from his one-on-one sessions with his academic coach. With these skills and consistent progress monitoring from his teachers and coaches, he was able to get a better grasp on his core classes. Even during a year of virtual classes and uncertainty, Mike was able to be successful in the majority of his core classes, including earning a 94 in Physics.

When asked how the program impacted his academic success, Mike's response was, "The Play It Smart program provided me consistency!  The consistency of study hall, tutors, meetings and more. It all helped me along the way. During the virtual school year, it provided me consistency in an uncertain time. Even with a new coaching staff this season the Play It Smart program and Coach Hazel have been a consistent part of my academic success. Consistency is key!"

 

Amari Hodges

Amari Hodges was part of the mentoring program throughout his high school career at North Atlanta High School. Amari struggled academically due to his medical diagnosis (ADHD), which impacted his academics and study habits. When Atlanta Public Schools made the decision to remain virtual for most of the 2021 school year due to the pandemic, Amari's academic struggles intensified. It reached a tipping point where coaches became concerned about his mental health after Amari shut down and became nonresponsive to coaches. But his coaches wouldn't give up on him and the commitment they made to get involved in his life to ensure a better future. His Play It Smart academic coach made it a point to communicate with him 2-3 times a day, staying in constant contact with his mother and his teachers. He even met with Amari on some weekends to give him the face-to-face study time needed to focus on catching up on his work.

Thankfully, all of the effort paid off and Amari's hard work didn't go to waste. Amari made it across the finish line and there was no greater emotion than seeing him walk across the stage to receive his diploma. His coach was sitting near the graduates as they lined up and when Amari saw his Play It Smart coach he yelled out and said, "Mr. Genwright, this is all because of you." Amari credits the program and his coaches for helping him graduate, "You are the reason I made it. You cared for me and my future when I didn't have the strength to care, and I am forever grateful."