In 1998, the Jersey City Board of Education began a new program called “Fifteen Together,” a program designed to cut down on the dropout rate in the district.
Any eighth graders that school officials felt were at risk of not completing high school were given the opportunity to participate in the program, kept to groups of 12 to 15 students, thus the name “Fifteen Together.”
The program, under the PACE (Projects and Career Exploration) federal program that has continued under President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” Act, is a six-week summer program where the students meet for one hour daily with counselors to discuss issues like drug abuse, crisis management, conflict resolution and anger management.
The sessions continue through freshman and sophomore years of high school and include monitoring throughout the school year in after-school settings with counselors and student peer leaders. The participants of the “Fifteen Together” program are taught the values of volunteerism, as well as job-related skills.
After the students complete the entire program, they are given a $600 stipend for their successful completion.
The program has been in existence for the last six years and has been a success, as evidenced by the 600 students who have completed the program and went on to receive their high school diplomas two years later.
The Dickinson High School Class of 2005 had two special members who are proud products of the “Fifteen Together” program. Both Brandon Hairston and Rashawn Smalls were considered high risks of dropping out when they were leaving grammar school, but they decided to enroll in the “Fifteen Together” program.
Hairston and Smalls not only graduated from the program and were able to stay in school long enough to earn their high school diplomas two weeks ago, but they were also standout basketball players at Dickinson, good enough to earn berths in the recent Hudson-Essex All-Star Classic that was held at Marist High School in May.
So if there was any doubt whether the “Fifteen Together” program worked, look no further than graduates Hairston and Smalls, because they not only survived high school. They made the most of it.
Now, both players are expected to go on to college and perhaps play on the college level as well. Certainly true success stories indeed….
So after local boxing hero Arturo Gatti (a former Jersey City resident who now lives in Hoboken) was soundly defeated by Floyd Mayweather in their much-anticipated pay-per-view match in Atlantic City two weeks ago, where does Gatti go?
There are some boxing experts who think that the 33-year-old Gatti is finished and should retire. It’s safe to say that the big-time paydays are a thing of the past. This was Gatti’s one big shot and getting soundly whooped via a six-round TKO isn’t exactly a resume builder.
But if anyone saw the way Gatti was thoroughly embraced by the Atlantic City faithful, chanting his name as he entered the ring, encouraging him even though there was basically no hope from the opening bell, proves that his popularity is still at an all-time high.
You can be rest assured that Gatti would draw a good gate wherever he fought in New Jersey, especially Atlantic City, where he has practically become the city’s adopted son.
It’s safe to say that Gatti has some tough decisions ahead of him, whether to stay in the ring as a middle-of-the-road fighter, collecting decent paydays, or hang it up to avoid further beatings like the one he received from Mayweather.
As anyone can attest, taking the boxer out of the ring might be the hardest thing to do. Look at Thomas Hearns, who at age 46, announced last week that he was going to fight again, even though Hearns cannot complete a full sentence. How any boxing commission could grant the former “Hitman” Hearns a license to fight is beyond comprehension, because the man appears to be seriously brain damaged from all the blows he endured over the years.
Gatti still has his health, his mind and his good looks. Those are things he has to take into consideration in the coming months, as he decides about his future. If he needs a reminder whether he should hang up the gloves before it’s too late, he should take just one look at Thomas Hearns as a reminder…
Here’s a great example of giving back. Rich Glover is perhaps the finest defensive football player to ever come out of Jersey City, having starred for Snyder High School, then reaching even bigger heights as the Outland Trophy winner at the University of Nebraska as the top lineman in the nation in 1972. Glover then went on to play for the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL.
This week, beginning Wednesday, Glover will return to his Jersey City roots to hold the Rich Glover Football Camp, which will be at Cochrane Field in the Caven Point Athletic Complex.
The camp will run daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with prospective football players from sixth through eighth grades will take part in football drills as well as learning life skills. The camp is being sponsored by the Jersey City Recreation Department and the Rich Glover All Access to Life Foundation.
For more information on the camp, contact the Jersey City Department of Recreation at (201) 547-5269. It’s a great way of learning a piece of Jersey City history while also learning about the game of football. It’s a must for all local kids… — Jim Hague
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