Welcome to Our Journey
Following are some ideas for how to explore this topic with your students. Given that this subject will be paired with Goal Setting, these are brief resources intended to give some context to the mentoring relationship to help you with the reveal of your student athlete mentor.
The big ideas of this topic are:
- Introduce College Champions
- Explain the mentoring relationship
- Give some context about the lessons of sport
- Reveal the mentor, and learn a bit about him or her (lots of ideas for this in the recorded session)
Following are a few resources for you to consider in planning your lessons.
College Champions is programming that is part of the Classroom Champions organization. More about Classroom Champions here: Op-ed piece by Steve about CC in the Buffalo News. Steve featured in Sports Illustrated “Athletes who care.” Good for kids to use as a close read.
Lessons from Sport:
Sports are often considered a microcosm of society as a whole. Although the bad stuff gets lots of press, there are lots of good things too, and lessons to be learned as a spectator and as a participant. Below are a few collections of articles about the best of us all, as seen through sports.
Inspiring moments from college sports (NCAA.org)
Huffington Post collection of positive sports stories.
Sports Illustrated profiles of athletes who overcame the odds, in a variety of ways.
Huffington Post collection of positive sports stories.
Sports Illustrated profiles of athletes who overcame the odds, in a variety of ways.
Mentoring:
Alumni mentor Ryan Cochrane and mentoring, with a lot of mentions of Classroom Champions and what being a mentor means to him.
One high school is placing an emphasis on mentors (The Atlantic)
Dwayne Johnson and the power of his high school teacher who mentored him (Oprah)
Huffington Post article on mentoring and the Muhammad Ali Center’s mentoring initiative by CC friend Dr. Eli Wolff
Quotes:
Lots of teachers use these as conversation starters, quick write topics, or to greet kids in the morning with a quote on the board.
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”
- Oprah Winfrey
Goodread’s list of quotes about Mentoring.
More quotes about mentorship here.
Read Alouds & Mentor Texts (Picture Books)
These links go to Goodreads, which contains reviews and all the info you would need to order these books from your school or public library system. We have a love of biographies, inclusion, and books on good relationships.
Flora & the Penguin - Molly Idle
Flora takes to the ice and forms an unexpected friendship with a penguin. Twirling, leaping, spinning, and gliding, on skates and flippers, the duo mirror each other's graceful dance above and below the ice. But when Flora gives the penguin the cold shoulder, the pair must figure out a way to work together for uplifting results.
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman - Kathleen Krull
Before Wilma Rudolph was five years old, polio had paralyzed her left leg. Everyone said she would never walk again. But Wilma refused to believe it. Not only would she walk again, she vowed, she'd run. And she did run--all the way to the Olympics, where she became the first American woman to earn three gold medals in a single olympiad.
A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina's Dream - Kristy Dempsey
Little ballerinas have big dreams. Dreams of pirouettes and grande jetes, dreams of attending the best ballet schools and of dancing starring roles on stage. But in Harlem in the 1950s, dreams don’t always come true—they take a lot of work and a lot of hope. And sometimes hope is hard to come by. But the first African-American prima ballerina, Janet Collins, did make her dreams come true. And those dreams inspired ballerinas everywhere, showing them that the color of their skin couldn’t stop them from becoming a star. In a lyrical tale as beautiful as a dance en pointe, Kristy Dempsey and Floyd Cooper tell the story of one little ballerina who was inspired by Janet Collins to make her own dreams come true.
Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper - Ann Malaspina
A biography of the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal, from her childhood in segregated Albany, Georgia, in the 1930s, through her recognition at the 1996 Olympics as one of the hundred best athletes in Olympic history. Includes bibliographical references.
Can I Play Too? (Elephant & Piggy #12) - Mo Willems
In Can I Play Too? Gerald and Piggie meet a new snake friend who wants to join in a game of catch. But don't you need arms to catch?
Read Alouds (Novels & Non-Fiction)
The Crossover - Kwame Alexander
Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he's got mad beats, too, that tell his
family's story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and
brotherhood.
Loved it? Check out Alexander’s soccer themed follow up (also in verse) Booked
Absolutely, Almost - Lisa Graff
An inspiring novel about figuring out who you are and doing what you love. Albie has never been the smartest kid in his class. He has never been the tallest. Or the best at gym. Or the greatest artist. Or the most musical. In fact, Albie has a long list of the things he's not very good at. But then Albie gets a new babysitter, Calista, who helps him figure out all of the things he is good at and how he can take pride in himself.
El Deafo - Cece Bell
This funny perceptive graphic novel memoir about growing up hearing impaired is also an unforgettable book about growing up, and all the super and super embarrassing moments along the way.
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