David showed up to practice 30 minutes early. He paced back and forth on the sidewalk dribbling his basketball. As cars started pulling into the lot, he scanned each driver until he finally saw his coach.“Coach Ernie!” He yelled and waved and sprinted to Ernie, who was getting out of his car and grabbing the…
I scanned the gymnasium and something, rather someone, stood out. While half of the kids were playing a fun shooting game with Coach André, the others were getting homework help from Coach Tajuan. And then there was James. He wasn’t playing with the other kids or doing homework. In fact, he was on the complete…
It was one of the more formal emails I’ve received in a while. With each sentence bookended with “sir” and “thank you”, I was thoroughly impressed. Especially coming from a 14 year-old kid. Alessandro, a high school freshman in Staten Island, heard about Street2Street’s upcoming summer event schedule and wants to be a part of…
“Man! I’m mad I invited someone to S2S Virtual who always beats me!” Larry’s comment was met with agreeance by the other players who have also lost to Ken. Ken’s laugh roared over their complaints and with one quick move, he was victorious for the third week in a row. Larry has been a part…
I remember as a kid going to bed the night of a snowstorm, praying to hear those two magic words: snow day. I would pray, do every trick in the book, and watch the weather forecast for hours, hoping it would all end in my favor. Now, with school being virtual for our students, those…
“I am the fulfillment of ‘The Dream!’” The words came from Jerome, one of the youngest kids in our Paterson program. To celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Coach André and a handful of Street2Street players attended a service. While the time included a reciting of the famous “I Have A Dream” speech, it also…
Zeke’s eyes widened, his step slowed, and a grin formed on his face, as if he was a kid in a candy store. Except it was even better: he was standing in Street2Street’s Toy Store. All the sports gear, nerf guns and board games at the tip of his fingers, but Zeke’s gaze shifted to…
The anticipation was growing hour by hour, second by second. Players logged on early, by the dozens, to compete in the S2S Virtual Championship. With no shortage of trash talk, the tournament was underway. In a round-robin tournament format, a player has to lose twice to be eliminated. And early in the qualifiers, Kevin lost…
The whole plan was hinging on one major factor: obtaining a PS5 for our S2S Virtual Championship. A prize this size is no simple feat, especially when it sold out in under 12 hours. But still, our staff was determined to show their appreciation to kids who showed up week after week. It wasn’t until…
I wish I could’ve seen it for myself. The day before Thanksgiving I received a call from TaJuan, our NJ Program Director. He was driving around his neighborhood with his trunk filled with Boxes of Love, his backseat with countless turkeys, and his passenger seat with about a million copies of our latest magazine, Street…