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Program encourages high school athletes

Tickets to Dallas Mavericks basketball games and Texas Motor Speedway events are helping to encourage student athletes at North Dallas High School to stay in school, make good grades and become good citizens.

The students have a chance to win rewards through Project SCORE (Self-responsibility, Commitment, Optimism, Respect and Excellence), a life skills program started in March by the UNT Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence. The program will also be offered during the 2000-2001 school year.

Trent Petrie, associate professor of psychology and center director, says the goal of SCORE is to help student athletes improve their academic performances so that they remain academically eligible for their sports and become motivated to graduate from high school.

"We are teaching them life skills such as goal setting, time management, positive thinking and stress management to help them be successful in school as well as in athletics. We also want to help them realize that skills they develop as athletes are valuable and can be applied on the job and in the classroom as well," says Petrie, who teaches a life skills course open to all UNT freshmen. He is also the author of A Student Athlete's Guide to College Success: Peak Performance in Class and Life.

Petrie says many colleges and universities - but few high schools - have special study skills and life skills programs and designated counselors for student athletes.

"The National Football Foundation has a pilot program called 'Play It Smart' that is used in high schools on the East Coast, but it is only for football players," he says.

SCORE is targeting all of North Dallas High School's 250 athletes, regardless of their sport.

The school was designated a low-performing school last August by the Texas Education Agency because of a low retention rate and low standardized test scores.

Petrie says that at some high schools, significant numbers of student athletes are at risk of dropping out once their athletic seasons are completed.

"When the season ends, they no longer have to worry about making certain grades so that they can play in the next week's game. Academics become a lower priority and their grades fall," he says. "We are trying to help student athletes see that succeeding academically and remaining eligible should be a year-round priority."

SCORE, he says, will help these students realize "that being a student athlete is rewarding at any time - not just during the season."

Students in SCORE and their coaches attend weekly seminars on Monday and Tuesday afternoons that are led by faculty members and graduate students in the Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence. Each seminar focuses on a specific topic, such as reading for success, self-confidence and goal-setting.

Gretchen Jones, a doctoral psychology student and center staff member, has been teaching goal-setting.

"Some of the coaches have already emphasized this, but some of the kids have never set a goal in their lives and don't really know what a goal is," she says. "Now they're having to decide on goals and decide the steps to take to reach them. We're getting them to think a little bit more, and they're enjoying it."

As part of SCORE, student athletes are expected to meet specific behavioral standards each academic term. They must earn a grade of 70 or higher in all courses, have two or fewer disciplinary actions that require involvement with the principal, attend at least 95 percent of the practices for their sports, and attend all SCORE seminars. The student athletes must also not be expelled or suspended from school and must attend 95 percent of tutoring sessions if they need tutors.

Student athletes who meet or exceed these expectations each academic term are recognized within the school and become eligible for the rewards.

"We're trying to work with all of the professional sport organizations in the Metroplex to donate tickets or promotional items as sponsors of SCORE," Petrie says.

"One of our goals is to have regular player appearances."

Student athletes who do not meet the expectations will be provided with additional assistance by the school's teachers and Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence staff members so that they may be successful in the future, Jones says.

SCORE started at North Dallas High School after several coaches contacted the center staff last May and asked them to provide training in performance enhancement.

"As we spent time at the school, we realized that we could be doing more than just help the students be better athletes - we could help them succeed in school and life," Petrie says.

He adds that he hopes the program can be expanded to other high schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the next few years.

BY NANCY KOLSTI
nkolsti@unt.edu		  

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