Quizzo regular Laura is a teacher at Philip Randolph Career Academy, and recently told me about her school’s efforts to start up a baseball team and wanted to see if we could help raise funds for baseball equipment. It sounds like a great cause, so I am going to ask everyone playing this week to please donate at least $1 to play. Here is a bit more info on the school and the team, from Laura:
Philip Randolph Career Academy, located at 3101 Henry Ave, was originally an asbestos factory. In 1975 it was converted to “Randolph Skills Center” and was used as a place for students to do shop training. In 1993, the school district administratively attached Randolph to Dobbins Area Vocational Technical School. The buildings shared administration, sports, and events such as prom and graduation. In 2004, the school district made Randolph its own school and it became “Randolph Career Academy.” Even though the schools were separate, Randolph did not have its own sports teams. Football and basketball players had to be shipped to Dobbins to play on the Dobbins’ team.
After much protestation and petitioning from the students, Randolph is slowly coming to its own and distancing itself from Dobbins. For the first time ever, Randolph will have its own boys Baseball team.
The students come from all around the city and they chose Randolph due to their interest in some vocational field – auto-mechanics, carpentry, electrical, culinary, etc. 95% are African-American and 70% are below the poverty level.
The boys on the new team are excited to be able to play other teams in the school district and represent Randolph as its own entity. The new coach, a social studies teacher that has been at the school since Randolph’s first year on its own, is enthusiastic about coaching the boys in their first season.
Because the school is small and cannot spare the money for extra curricular activities and a lot of boys do not have money for equipment, we are looking for donations to help raise money for equipment – bats, balls, cleats, catcher’s equipment, gloves, etc.