steering our children
to success
bryant lewis
F
feel free
or the past 4 years, beginning in the spring of 2013, STEER, a program that originated in the suburbs of New York City, has given opportunities to children of low income families, opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have been available to them. Opportunities such as: summer sports camps, week long courses at colleges that could be an interest to students who has a thought of what their potential major could be once they get to college. STEER started by Mike Eck and Joe Durney saw this as a way of shining a light on these student-athletes who not only are shining on the field, but in the classroom as well
My son Jordan plays football and is the member of the track team, at Port Chester, NY High School, is going into his senior year, and into his 5th year in the STEER program. As new students enter the program, parents have asked me: “What benefits have you seen in the previous 4 years with Jordan’s involvement in the program?” Well, First and foremost, what I can tell you is how much STEER loves my child. Anything Jordan has needed they’ve been there for him. They helped to pay for football camp his first summer in the program. Last summer, he was able to spend a week, attending a journalism course down in Manhattan College. In both cases, it gave Jordan
confidence, opportunity to enhance his skills, and more importantly, develop friendships with kids throughout the country that he’s says will last a lifetime. And most recently, because of his involvement in that summer program at Manhattan, he was invited to the presidential inauguration, which he attended and found it to be an amazing experience, despite the man who was taking office.
Not only is Jordan growing, but STEER is growing as well. And they are looking to each and every one of us to help them continue to grow, to help us and our children grow.