A Summer Project Turned Life Lesson for Youth Players

A summer project turned into a life lesson as Clarkston youth players invested their time in a virtual financial literacy course. Financial Center Manager at Bank of America, Chiquita Jenkins, led the youth players through the extensive Better Money Habits® program. This course was especially important as soccer came to a standstill during the pandemic, these players were able to turn their focus on to other at-home activities.   

The curriculum was six weeks long and the players worked diligently each week on different topics. The financial literacy Better Money Habits® program for High School students helps them learn the basics of banking, how to manage money including wants versus needs, outlining the role that credit plays, and the importance of protecting your financial information through various resources. The presentations consisted of slides, videos, and examples. 

Each week a new financial topic was introduced and discussed that included real-life examples and problems. The goal was to ensure that each student player grasped the financial concept and understood how it could be applied in their daily dealings. 

“They were able to learn not only about Financial Literacy but also how to apply it and share what was learned with others. The program engagement allowed them to work through problems and test their financial abilities,” said Jenkins. “The program introduced them to a wide range of financial concepts such as an introduction to managing credit, how to manage money, simple credit versus compound credit, making good choices to help you save, etc.”

She also commented - “I really enjoyed leading the program with the youth players and truly learned a lot from them as well,” said Jenkins. “There were two youths; Mugisas and Kennedy that attended every session and financially blossomed before our eyes. We are so proud of the youth participants and all the hard work that they put in.”

We are proud to offer this program to the kids as they might not normally get the same types of programs in their schools. It is important to keep the youth players engaged during the summer when they have more free time and we also feel this program worked greatly to their advantage.

“I am thankful to have the opportunity to learn from the curriculum”, said Clarkston U18 Boys Youth Player, Mugisas. “I will use this information in the future when I open my own bank account and learn how to adjust my budget the right way.”

Clarkston Program Manager, Toussaint McClure, has seen first hand how these youth players have been working diligently on their soccer and financial literacy skills. 

“It is important to connect with the kids both on and off the field. The off the field lessons they learn through SITS are more important to their future than the on the field skills because soccer does not last forever”, said McClure. “It was nice to see Kennedy and Mugisa’s progression each week as they began to understand how they can use the lessons from the course in real life.”

He also commented- “The values and life skills the kids learn while in the SITS program is what makes the program unique. SITS provided them with their first lesson on financial literacy which will make them more well rounded as a person. I do not think they would have learned about financial literacy if SITS had not provided them the opportunity to take the course and I am confident that they will continue to seek more knowledge and spread the word to their friends and families in the Clarkston community.”

As a continuous partner Bank of America has worked with our youth players on various training courses throughout the years giving our kids the opportunity to learn and grown. We are thankful to keep working together as we impact the lives of youth in metro Atlanta. 

Clarkston Gardner Helps Youth Players Stay Engaged

Clarkston Gardner Helps Youth Players Stay Engaged

As part of a summer project, the Clarkston youth players have worked with a community gardener, Ralph MacDonald, to utilize space in their field by turning it into a vibrant garden. Five of the youth players have been visiting the garden weekly to work on keeping the vegetables in great shape. This project has been a special one as the players have been anxious to get back out to play but know that they can actively engage in other projects in the meantime. 

Left: Clarkston Youth Players Right: Ralph MacDonald

Let’s take a look at who Ralph MacDonald is and what this garden means to him:

Ralph: “My name is Ralph MacDonald and I am an advocate for good food and local farming. Over the past six years, I have worked as a landscaper, grant writer, program coordinator, urban agriculture researcher, farmers’ market manager, board member, and farmer. A lot of those roles have been held twice, many have been held simultaneously, and those are just my farm-related jobs. Labor-intensive farming, the kind needed to harvest fruits and vegetables as you see here in the garden, is not a financially rewarding enterprise in America, and the economic disincentives to maintain small farms has left our country unable to grow enough healthy produce to feed ourselves. Because the flaws of our food system are far removed from our grocery shelves, these problems are hardly visible.”

Why do you like to build gardens? 

“I like to build gardens because I want to try to expose as many people to growing food as possible--it provides perspective on the labor that goes into our groceries, feeling love for your plants, a chance to eat the food off the vine and tasting a big difference, an opportunity to grow and share food with a friend. It’s highly rewarding work, and watching the positive personal development of my peers in the food movement sustains and motivates me.”

Youth Players working in garden

How can building a garden help the youth players during this time?

“It’s hard to capture one reason to grow food. There are virtually limitless positive feedback loops on growing and eating healthy local food: on our health and healthcare system, on our performance in jobs and schools, in maintaining a sustainable ecosystem, and on building the social bonds that help tie us together. Children (and adults) who grow food will virtually always eat the food, regardless of their past dietary habits, making an enormous impact on healthcare--85% of pre-COVID medical costs were associated with a diet-related chronic illness like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. The regenerative nature of organic agriculture allows us to create valuable produce year after year while sustaining a healthier environment. Children and young adults who garden have access to a litany of practical botany concepts, use algebra, and spend time coordinating work with rewarding results. With schools, employment, climate crisis, communities, and our healthcare systems all under enormous strain, we need access to gardens and farming spaces more than ever to build up community resilience and bonding.”

What does this specific project mean to you?

“I’m very grateful to the Clarkston Program Manager, Toussaint McClure, for bringing me out to start these gardens up. I’ve known Toussaint for almost 25 years and it’s amazing to be working with him again as adults. 25 years ago, his father came in to teach our class about Civil Rights and my mom came in to teach about environmentalism--now we’re together again on a project that ties into both and will be advancing that education to the next generation of young people.”

It’s important to keep our fields a vibrant space for all the youth players. We are thankful for the opportunity to have Ralph and Toussaint work with the kids on this amazing project out at the Clarkston field! 

If you'd like to get involved in this project email toussaint@soccerstreets.org  or make a donation here to help provide more opportunities like this to even more kids in our programs!

Teaching Our Youth Players The Importance of African American History

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Forum Powerpoint

Soccer in the Streets’ mission extends far beyond the boundaries of the soccer field.  Whether through leadership training activities, cultural enrichment trips, or financial literacy courses, we strive to create pathways for our players to become leaders who can contribute to their communities.  The recent calls for a renewed focus on racial justice have provided an opportunity for us to engage with and educate our players about both the tragic events which have led to the Black Lives Matter movement and also the long history of struggle that has led to this point.  

Over the last two months, we have organized four forums consisting of twenty-five kids ranging from ages eight through sixteen years old. We were fortunate to have southside parent and educator, Keisha Sawyer moderate the forum for the families.

“It was an honor and privilege to collaborate with the staff and team from Soccer in the Streets as well as other educators to inform ALL youth about the positive and unique contributions of African-Americans from the past and present,” said Ms. Sawyer. “ These forums have allowed our youth to be creative and engaged during this downtime due to COVID. I feel that it is necessary to engage in positive discussions about African American history with my own children and other children as well, especially during this empowering Black Lives Matter movement.”

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Forum Powerpoint slide: Meet the leaders

She also commented- “I personally believe that it is important for ALL cultures and ethnicities to be knowledgeable of the many amazing contributions and achievements of African Americans in the past and present. Knowledge is power! The more you know, the more you grow!”

Throughout the forums, topics consisted of politics, history, and blacks in education. The kids had the opportunity to speak up and answer questions after Ms.Sawyer educated the kids on various topics related to black history. 

The parents were very appreciative of the opportunity to sit in and listen to the discussion with there kids. Southside parent, Asha Flournoy spoke about how she felt after listening in with her son Jeremiah.

“We were so excited to hear that there was going to be another forum with our kids. I feel great about discussing African American History with my son as well as other children because they get to learn about things they have never heard of before.”, said Ms. Flournoy. “They helped my son feel more confident about himself and it let him see African Americans in a more positive light.”

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Forum powerpoint slide: Who are we?

She also commented- “At the time Jeremiah was hearing about a lot of African Americans being killed by law enforcement and he was very sad. I noticed that if affected his self-esteem and he even mentioned to me that he wished he were a White person because then he wouldn’t have to worry about being killed and harassed by the police. After the forums, he began to show more confidence about being an African American and this made me happy.” 

These forums shine a light on the negative events that have been occurring in the world and we want to make sure our kids feel they have a safe space to talk about anything.

“It’s important to learn about African American history”, said Jeremiah.”It makes me feel like nobody can take my history away or hide it from me, I am very thankful for my coaches educating me.”

We value the opportunity to work with the youth players on and off the field on relevant events and letting their voices be heard with the Soccer in the Streets family. Director of Programs, Tony Carter, expresses how the forums are meaningful.

“The kids in our communities are facing tough times right now. More than ever it's important that we stay connected and engaged with the kids. Although we're not able to do in-person programming as much as we'd like to, we value discussing today's current events in a meaningful and thought-provoking manner”, said Carter. “It's wonderful to see how it started out as a forum for kids expressing their concerns with social injustice they have witnessed to now they are engaging in sessions centered around Black Excellence throughout history. There's something to be said about the communities that we work in and how there is great energy to turn tough situations into something beautiful and meaningful.”