Attendees |
- Kevin Clark, Ph.D., Hoop Magic Faculty Facilitator
- Eun Soon Cho, Ph.D., EDIT Visiting Professor
- Jami Brandt, Team Member
- Jason Wilhelm, Team Member
- Rhonda Hopkins, Team Member
- Lenore Butcher Kuch, Team Member
- Shelton Jewette, Graduate Research Assistant
- Zodie Makonnen , Graduate Research Assistant
- Curtis Symonds, Founder of the Hoop Magic Sports Academy
- Joann Marshall-Hobbs, Coordinator for the Hoop Magic Sports Academy
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Items Discussed: |
Client Question and Answer Session
Rhonda acted in the role of meeting facilitator and directed questions to our guests, Curtis Symonds and Joann Marshall-Hobbs, regarding the Hoop Magic Sports Academy and the role of the Hoop Magic Immersion Team, as perceived by our guests.
The prepared list of Client Questions follows below, along with responses and discussion points from the meeting:
- Question: Why did you decide to start HMSA? What was your inspiration?
- Discussion: The Hoop Magic Sports Academy (“HMSA”) idea began about ten years ago when Curtis noticed a lack of gym space for the youth basketball teams that he was affiliated with and he was inspired to look for solutions. The teams did not have adequate practice space, especially in the summer and could not practice outside in summer heat for very long. Building the HMSA was the realization of a dream. The HMSA facility is 65,000 sq. feet, steel frame building which can accommodate many sports, such as: volleyball, indoor soccer, indoor football, and basketball. Mr. Symonds wanted to be able to give something back to the community and believes that providing support for education for underserved children is the way to begin giving back with the HMSA. The project was originally planned to be a hub for the Boys and Girls Club. However, that plan was altered when the Boys and Girls Clubs placed a hold on the opening of new facilities in the Fairfax County area. Mr. Symonds wanted to focus on the educational possibilities for the HMSA computer lab. The Northrup Grumman Foundation provided a grant to purchase equipment for the computer lab and Cox Communications provided the expertise in installing computer and cable components in the lab.
- Question: What impact do you want this organization to have on the community?
- Discussion: The HMSA computer lab will be a place for students to come to receive help on homework and spend a few hours with a tutor or mentor while waiting for practice and to show children that education is valued. The goal of the lab is to increase the math and science skills in children, and to become a model for other media labs in the future. The lab will hold twenty computers.
- Question: What are the goals/objectives you’ve established for HMSA?
- Discussion: To be a revolutionary, innovative and effective after school program. The original idea for the lab was to use the Hoop Magic computer lab as a tutoring location, where students from the area would come to the lab to be tutored by college students before their sport practice, and to get help for their homework. When Northrup Grumman became involved, the goal for the lab focused on the science and math areas. Curtis wants the lab to show students how to apply math and science in real life and in careers. The program should target at-risk students and help students find a balance between athletics and academics. Curtis would like students to spend time with successful role-models who are successful in academics and athletics to build up the students self-esteem and self-respect. The lab could offer an opportunity for guidance, direction and purpose for these students by using math and science skills and realizing the need for them.
- Question: Could you describe the population you envision serving with this lab?
Range of age: Grade school to seniors, eventually. May begin with middle school aged children in an effort to catch some of them before they begin to form bad habits.
Description of target population: At-risk, low income students. Chantilly Mews residents, in particular, were mentioned.
From where will they come? Hope to have students from as far away as DC and Maryland, and other counties in Virginia.
How will they get there? Curtis has a friend in the transportation business and may seek an agreement with that contact to provide transportation from further distances. At present, there is no transportation arranged for an after school program.
How will you attract students? HMSA has begun marketing to the area for use of the facility, but no real advertising for the computer lab has been done, as Curtis would like to program to be in place when the first students arrive. Curtis will market to students who come for practice in the facility, suggesting a pre-practice session in the lab, when it is ready for use.
Will there be a fee for students using the lab?There will be no fee for the lab at present.
- The lab.
- Discussion: Students should be participating in different stages of the design development of the lab.Shelton and Dr. Clark will provide Microsoft Office Suite training in preparation for the lab opening for students. In the future Curtis would like to see the involvement of parents with training as tutors and use of the lab with their children, thus providing quality time with their children. The base idea of HMSA is similar to the Prince George’s Sports Academy, but for the fact that HMSA receives no county funding for the project, it is funded strictly through Curtis and his wife. Curtis would like direction on the use of the lab during the weekends. Curtis would like to have one to two tutors available in the lab at all times. Eventually, Curtis would like to be able to offer classes in the lab. The lab will have projectors and television, and has been wired for cable. The Hoop Magic Team will visit the Southside Housing Program, where students learned to create games over the summer. The Team will also endeavor to attend the Serious Games Conference use polyconferences with subject matter experts, and utilize the expertise of the STAR multimedia lab at George Mason University for programming tasks.
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