How poetry and basketball combine to build educational justice

Do you remember learning how to read? How to write? Or spell? Did you have a favorite book that made reading fun? Students who attend the Kids Poetry Basketball after-school program strengthen their literacy skills by reading the Dr. Seuss classic “Green Eggs and Ham.”

“DO YOU LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM?

I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM.

I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM.

WOULD YOU LIKE THEM HERE OR THERE?

I WOULD NOT LIKE THEM HERE OR THERE.

I WOULD NOT LIKE THEM ANYWHERE.”

Our current public school system often limits students’ potential by requiring them to learn in very specific and limited ways. For example, when learning to read, students are asked to sit still, an approach that does not always work for kinesthetic learners. Students are deprived of opportunities to explore learning in more dynamic and movement-oriented settings. Kids Poetry Basketball, a Frontline Fund grantee, offers students highly engaging learning scenarios by creating a bridge between reading skills and basketball. 

Kids Poetry Basketball (KPB), a sponsored project of Southern Vision Alliance, is an after school program for kids ages 4 to 13 years old that gives students the freedom and resources to learn about poetry, reading, grammar, and sentence structure while playing basketball games. Learning the fundamentals of language is made more accessible thanks to the imaginative educational approach of Clement Mallory, the founder of KPB. Clement experienced learning disabilities during his school career which fostered in him a passion to help others learn in innovative ways.

A key social issue that plagues many communities is inadequate resources for teaching children to read and write. Educational justice means that all individuals, regardless of their economic background, race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation have the right to receive a quality education. This includes opportunities for physical and mental growth. Kids Poetry Basketball addresses the need for equitable education with their ongoing after-school programs. 

In 2023, KPB served over 600 students and their families, conducted their program in eight different after school sites, and organized seven community events in the Greensboro area. They also developed and implemented a financial literacy component to their existing program entitled L.I.F.E. (Leadership, Innovative, Financial/Fitness, Entrepreneurship).

KPB was also the recipient of the 2023 “Non-profit of the Year Award” by the Greensboro Swarm. In 2024, KPB is partnering with the Nehemiah Empowering Community Center to begin plans to build a basketball dome on their property so the organization can have a central location to host more youth workshops and activities.

Too often we are afraid to exist in the gray area, in the place of not knowing the possibilities and pathways that will move us forward. Kids Poetry Basketball is actively creating these new pathways for the youth of Greensboro. In fact, we must all continue to have an ever expanding growth mindset so that the world we are creating can become a just one, filled with myriad opportunities for us all to become the best versions of ourselves.