Kenyon Webb, an eighth-grader at Mound STEM School in Cleveland, never would have considered writing poetry if not for America SCORES Cleveland.
Kenyon was initially drawn to America SCORES — a unique after-school and summer program for inner-city children — by sports. America SCORES uses soccer, poetry and community service to instill confidence, character and compassion in children.
“I didn’t want to write poetry at first, but they gave me a pen and paper, and I started thinking about what was going on in the world,” says Kenyon, 13. “At first I wrote about my personal problems, then I wrote about the community — the violence, brutality and the problems. It’s a way of expressing myself.”
According to America SCORES, which is in 11 other cities besides Cleveland, 76 percent of its more than 11,000 “poet-athletes” improve their writing-assessment scores. About 68 percent increase their aerobic fitness levels, and more than 90 percent experience a rise in self-esteem.
America SCORES Cleveland has made such an impact that it will become part of Say Yes to Education Cleveland, an initiative that in the coming years will allow all Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) pupils to attend college tuition-free.
“These students may want to go to college but most of them are not prepared,” says Debi Pence-Meyenberg, executive director of America SCORES Cleveland. “There are so many obstacles and adjustments once you get to college. Programs like ours can provide that extra guidance and support.”
America SCORES was founded in 1994 in Washington, D.C., by public school teacher Julie Kennedy. She saw inner-city children join gangs and land in trouble because they had nothing to do after school. She shared her passions for soccer and poetry with her pupils, then added a public-service element to create a three-prong curriculum.
Poet-athletes find the poetry freeing because in school they are taught mostly to pass state writing tests. In America SCORES, they can write whatever is on their minds.
“These children are facing so many things we don’t even know about, not just poverty but lack of consistency and support,” Pence-Meyenberg says. “We provide a fun, supportive environment where they can thrive.”
In Cleveland, America SCORES is in 11 CMSD schools, mostly in grades first through eighth. The program, which trains and pays teachers in those schools to serve as soccer and writing coaches, relies on donations from foundations, businesses, governments and individuals.
America SCORES also organizes fundraisers. On June 8, more than 20 local artists will unveil new work, based on poems by America SCORES’ poet-athletes, at smARTspace at 78th in the Gordon Square Arts District. Guests will bid on the artwork, and the money will go toward America SCORES programming.
Everybody wins because the poet-athletes who benefit give back, raising money and supplies for food pantries and homeless shelters. Kenyon, as part of his community service, worked with his family to give away shoes, which children desperately need in his neighborhood. “It made me feel proud because I did it — I gave those kids some shoes,” Kenyon says.
To volunteer for America SCORES,
make a donation or learn more about the June 8 fundraiser, call 216-881-7988 or visit americascorescleveland.org.