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Although he had excelled in football, Rip had done poorly in academics at his previous school. He recalls, "When football season was over, they let you slide. You played football and you didn't do work." This all changed when he began at Chambers. Rip credits the turnaround to the influence of his mentors. "My first year, I went from probably a C to a C+," he says. "Then, over the summertime, my mentor would call me and set times to help me. I had never heard of that—I'm not used to that." He adds, "She's still helping me." Rip's hard work paid off last quarter when he made honor roll. "I used to hate reading," he also admits. Another teacher urged him to take part in the school's Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) program, suggesting that he begin with a sports autobiography. "Ever since then, I love reading biographies and autobiographies." Rip reflects, "I used to read just to get it over with. But now I'm reading because reading makes you better at what you want to do." Because he wanted to coach, he arranged his WISE internship with the Boys and Girls Club. He deliberately chose a mentor who would stay on top of him. (Under the WISE program, students meet regularly with a project mentor.) Soon, she started telling people how well he was doing. "I was always trying to make her proud. Because she is giving so much to me, I want to give back to her." Rip's internship went so well, in fact, that he was offered a paid job at the Boys and Girls Club, and he's been coaching there ever since. Rip now applies the lessons he learned from his mentors to the mentoring he does in his own job. When one of his best players was doing poorly in school, Rip told him that he could not play the next game. He explains, "If I let him play, when he gets to high school, he is going to think, 'I'm good at football, so I can slide.'" He draws a parallel to his own school experience. "They expect you to do stuff that you don't think you are capable of doing. But now, I think, seriously, you can do anything. I know personally because I never thought I could make honor roll. One of these kids I coach, I help him every single day, and he made honor roll this quarter." He adds, "When he made honor roll, his face lit up." Plans for the Future After high school, Rip is scheduled to play semipro football. He will also attend college to work toward his goal of becoming a high school coach. The WISE internship helped Rip discover what it will take to accomplish his goal. He met with coaches at area colleges and discovered what a sports management program would involve. "If it had not been for WISE, Rip speculates, "I would probably be lost at what I have to do." "Before I came here, I wanted to play in the NFL. Now I don't want to." He explains his change of heart: "I have a kid who I've been coaching since he was seven years old. He's ten now. I've coached him in basketball. I've coached him in baseball, football, and track. To see how much he got better. . ." he pauses. "I want to see his presentations at school. That's what my love is, watching kids get better. I want to work with kids. People have given that to me, so I just want a chance to give that to them too." "When you coach, you get close to people. People tell me stories and look up to me. When I came here, it was kind of the same way with my mentor. She was coaching me. The way those kids look to me—I look to her the same way." He concludes, "It's a nice circle."
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