A swing at better grades
A middle school magnet is a sign of how the choice program is evolving in Hillsborough.
By LETITIA STEIN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 23, 2007
TAMPA-Principal Joe Brown envisions a putting green beside the front lawn of Franklin Middle School, a brick-faced campus wedged between concrete block homes and east Tampa's industrial corridor.
It's far-fetched, he admits. But not long ago, so was the scene playing out before the front office windows. Students who had never heard of birdies or bogeys are swinging golf clubs on a makeshift par-3 course. They are aiming for a hula-hoop, but lessons continue on a real green after school.
Golf is an unlikely answer to Franklin's problems. Like other inner-city schools, Franklin faces racial and poverty challenges ingrained after the sunset of court-ordered busing for desegregation. Almost all Franklin students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Minorities are the vast majority.
"It's going to change the culture of the school," Lewis Brinson, Hillsborough's assistant superintendent for administration, said of Franklin's golf academy. "Then you are going to attract more kids from outside your boundaries."
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The approach speaks to the evolution of Hillsborough's school choice plan as it enters its fifth year. Rather than expecting families to pick diversity over convenient neighborhood schools, the focus has shifted to improving schools in those neighborhoods that need it.
Initially, parents found the program too complicated, with too few options for parents in the suburbs. The first wave of attractor programs were not strong enough to draw students.
Nowthe focus is on fewer initiatives - like the Rigorous Academic Program, or RAP - geared toward more than a dozen high-poverty middle schools, including Franklin. All are labeled failing under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
"Programs that we have now are not only to assist with diversity, but to help shore up a school," said Pansy Houghton, Hillsborough's supervisor of choice programs. She says academics and choice go hand in hand.
"Who's going to choose into an F school?" Houghton said, adding that a poor grade wouldn't decide where she sends her son and that parents should visit before judging.
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Franklin's golf academy stems from this philosophy. This fall, the school added a golf class at the end of the day. Instruction continues after the final bell at nearby public courses.
The start was accidental. Students in an after-school program knew a teacher liked golf and asked for lessons. When word got out, district officials wanted to do more.
"Golf is just one of those sports where you see a whole lot of character and respect - the kind of decorum that you want to see in the schoolhouse," said Brinson, the assistant superintendent.
Character education is central to the program, which includes about 20 students living in the surrounding neighborhood. Franklin's principal is just starting to market the concept to communities like Westchase, where he says parents can spend $2,000 on golf summer camps.
But will they want to come to a D-graded school?
"We need to have a credible program to lure parents here," Brown said, noting that Franklin also offers a law magnet for academic rigor.
"Kids who are here for the golf academy will get law, too," he said. "Prepare them for life as a lawyer."
He touts the school's affiliation with The First Tee, an international organization that promotes exposure to golf and character education. Even the United States Golf Association has offered to help, Brown says.
Already, school officials say they are reaching students who are opting to stay right where they are. Grades are up for the students in Franklin's golf program. Discipline referrals are down. Daily attendance is not an issue.
Ask Kemar Keddo what he's learned from the golf classes. The answer has nothing to do with a sports game.
"You've got to be truthful. Respect," says the lanky seventh-grader, who looks about three years older than his 13 years. "You can't cheat."
Still, Kemar receives a critical look from his golf teacher for wearing baggy sleeves that he has to roll up. He gets no pity for coming up short on a practice shot.
"He distracted me," Kemar says of a classmate.
"You have to be mentally tough," instructor Sean Farrell replies.
Farrell calls his golf lessons "the toughest tough love you can get." He is building rapport that translates to the classroom.
But even he wonders if what's right for Franklin will appeal to other neighborhoods. "In a perfect world, they'd come," Farrell said. "But I think if they're parents in Westchase, they can get what they want when they want it."
Letitia Stein can be reached at lstein@sptimes.com or 813 226-3400. For more education news, visit The Gradebook at blogs.tampabay.com/schools.