"I'm sure," I said. Mark had in fact reminded me about it that very morning as he served everyone breakfast. "Mr. Smiley was quite insistent on that. There's a lot of kids out there who either need the skills, or more importantly, need a way to burn off all that youthful aggression while learning some self control. Besides, according to Marcus at least, after a good practice you're too damn tired to get into too much trouble."
"He's got a point there," Helen replied. "I had quite a few athletes whose grades actually went up in season as opposed to off season. You'd think with the time they took for practice that it would the opposite, but I can see the theory behind it. If anything, they focused more because the consequences of their screwing off were more immediate. By the way, thank you for agreeing to the minimum grade code for any kid in our sports programs."
"It's just as important to me," I said as we turned away and headed towards the stairs. The grade code was one of the main approaches we were taking to try and motivate the local youth to work hard in school as well. For them to participate in any of the sports programs, they had to have at least a 75 average or its equivalent for elementary school. Anyone who was a dropout could qualify again if they enrolled in some of our other study programs, but life skills and academics always were to remain first.
With the gym being so tall, it was foolish to waste the extra building height, so we had classrooms and workshops on both floors. As we finished the stairs, I turned and emphasized my thoughts to Maxine. "You're here to create opportunity, not just keep them out of trouble."
The upstairs, besides the classrooms, also had one of the most important rooms to me. The nursery room. Designed according to Montessori principles, it would provide up to twenty mothers the opportunity to have a safe, professional place for their children to be watched while they worked or went through job training. We hoped that by starting children on a love of learning and exploration early, they'd be getting a leg up on the world before they ever entered even a preschool program.
Helen had already forwarded me the resumes of the teacher and assistant she'd hired, and I had to say I was impressed. Everything was tiny, and while the facilities were simple, they were quality and encouraged the children to explore, strengthening the bodies and their minds. "Wow, this looks amazing," I noted as I looked over the child-sized sink and other materials. "And all of it is meant for usage by the children?"
"All of it works just like the adult versions," Helen replied. "The plumbing contractor really did a great job. I think there's a bit of personal bias in on it though. His wife wants to go back to work, and they've got a one year old. He works here in The Playground, and he already turned in his application for the first batch of kids we let in."
"Approve him," I said immediately as I looked everything over. "Another reason we started this place was to give local communities a sense of investment. If he sees he can get more than just the one job out of this place, he'll be more on our side."
The tour continued, and I got to see each of what would eventually become the first of our centers. There were general purpose rooms that could be a classroom, a meeting room, or really anything else the center needed. There was a dedicated computer lab as well as culinary arts room, and a room that would eventually teach tailoring and dressmaking. The theory was that each center would focus on certain areas of work training, with the first center being focused on so-called 'home economics.' The other centers would each have their own focus, including car and small engine repair, contracting and construction, and general business. We hoped that along with a strong college prep course, we'd be able to get the people in the neighborhoods out of the cycle of poverty they were trapped in. We were also going to offer counseling and guidance, although drug treatment programs and others would most likely have to be shopped out to other places that were better equipped to handle such cases.
"It looks good," I finally said as we went into Helen's office. It too was bare boned, but at least had a temporary desk and her computer up and running. I made a note to replace her folding table desk with something more befitting her position ASAP. That would be a personal gift from me. If Sophie and Mark could build me a house, the least I could do is buy a center director a desk. "I also wanted to give you a heads up."
"More trouble from the Union?" Helen asked. Now that we were alone in her office, she dropped the pretense and polite talk. While most of the workers that were doing the renovations were non-union, we did have a couple of the subcontractors who were, which meant they were most likely pro-Union. "Thought we'd have been done with that."
"Not quite," I replied, not wanting to give away too much. "I received some good information that the Latin Kings might be coming down from Filmore Heights to cause some trouble here as we approach the opening date. I've got people working on trying to get you details, but until then, you keep your eyes open. You know anything about them?”