Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / April 16, 2015, edition 1 / Page 3
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Laying the groundwork: Coach focuses on academics over athletics BY CHANEL DAVIS THE CHRONICLE Roderick Fluellen is busy focusing on the student part of the city's student-ath letes. The former Winston-Salem State University football player has founded a mentor group that would offer student-ath letes a place to cast their worries and focus on what's important: being a student before making the plays. True Elite, is a nonprofit, agency that provides mentoring, tutoring and prepara tion for higher educa tion. The agency's Richardson goal is to provide positive relation ships, in the form of mentors, for student athletes that promotes pro-social relation ships, community involvement, self sufficient skills and the understanding of the importance of education. Its website Flue lien said that it beheyps that this will enhance the chances of their athletes becoming productive citizens. Fluellen, a football and baseball coach at Northwest Middle and Carver High schools, said that he tried to do everything to help his players. "As an athlete, I found myself getting stressed and overwhelmed due to class room expectations" Fluellen said. "As I was coaching and talking to the players, I noticed that they were feeling the same way I once felt. I found a plethora of research that indicates that student athletes are more stressed, overwhelmed and are becoming depressed due to high demands. In worst cases, students are committing suicide due to not being able to find that balance." So he created True Elite. Along with Fluellen, other board members include E. Tyron Scott, Gregory Wilson, Tanya Purdie and Jamaine Mack, all former athletes. The organization targets middle and high school athletes in the Winston-Salem area and wants to help them find a balance that allows them to be successful on and off the field. The program is open to students ages 13 to 18 years old. Students would be required to show up for an hour of tutoring before going to practice. During that time, students are expected to do homework or study subjects in which they have low grades or need assistance in per the stu dents' report cards and progress reports. Participants are required to maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0, grad uate with their class, meet all qualifica tions to ensure graduation and receive the proper online sports-related exposure. "Even if they have good grades, I still try to make them attend so they can do peer tutoring," he said. Fluellen said that he has gotten good feedback from the students, teachers and the parents of Northwest and Carver. "I've been receiving a lot of positive feedback," he said. "My goal is to do a , pilot program to open it up to other stu dents. It's a lot of students who don't have a great support system and fall between the cracks. Tliey can't keep their grades up, can't play and then stop coming to school." Jalin Richardson said that he loves the program. "It helps me in class and it also helps me become a better person. He's a great mentor and it's a great aca demic program to have for our athletes. Especially those who need a lot of help in class," he said. The 17-year-old said he would use the skills he learned from True Elite when he begins at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. "This helps me to get higher test scores and to become more of an independent thinker," Richardson said. "In college, it will help me become a better student. If you don't have the resources at the time, if you've already been trained and tutored, then you should already know what you're doing." Fluellen said that the program would also include community service projects including Read^Across America, raising money for children who need sports sup plies, school supplies and sponsoring fam ilies during the holiday season. "Other children are looking up to them who want to play high school sports," he said. "They're role models. Most importantly he hopes the pro gram gives athletes a future. "We preach that it's called student-ath lete for a reason. Student comes before athlete so before you can be an athlete you need to be a student," he said. "We want them to be able to have all the qualifica tions needed to get accepted for higher education." For more information on the True Elite program, visit www.trueelite-ws.com. Submitted photos Students who participated in True Elite went into elementary classrooms and read to stu dents as part of Read Across America day. True Elite participants have activities such as reading to elementary students. The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co. Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101. 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