Bryan originally just wanted to play soccer. For this Denton student, his district’s unique program, GOAL (Guys/Girls Operating as Leaders), offered him that ability. Bryan, however, found that GOAL offered him so much more—the chance to bond “as a family” and help his community and school.
Like his fellow GOAL students, Bryan is identified as an English language learner (ELL), and Spanish is the predominant language spoken in his household. The program began as the project of one Denton ISD teacher, Christopher Ice, in 2008 at one of the district’s middle school campuses. As Ice noted, “Twenty-three young men on this campus were in deep trouble. Their grades were dropping while absenteeism and behavioral referrals were on the rise.” Ice noticed that many of the students connected to soccer and in the absence of a school-based soccer program for middle school students, Ice decided to start his own program meshing soccer with leadership: “In exchange for access to regular soccer sessions, these young men agreed to meet with mentors, go to tutoring, attend school regularly, and provide a community service.”
The program blossomed—moving from afterschool and summer programs for those students into all of the middle schools in Denton ISD, stretching into nearby Lewisville, Lake Dallas, Sanger, and Gainesville districts, and currently serving more than 600 students. The program now supports both genders, offers college scholarships, hosts four soccer tournaments each year, and pays for soccer officiant licensing for high school program alumni. All of this is offered at no cost to the students or parents—the program only asks that the students learn to give back to the communities and to the program itself.
Ice stressed the emphasis on community when describing the activities of GOAL members: “In addition to playing soccer, GOAL teams must provide community service projects, students write testimonials for publication, travel to area universities and colleges for an in-depth look at higher education, prepare elementary school children for secondary, and raise money for our scholarship fund.”
The program was successful with those initial 23 students (“Their grades improved and behavioral referrals evaporated,” Ice noted) and continues to work for students like Bryan, giving them access to key leadership skills they can take into their future.
Bryan’s teacher, Christina Dearman, remembers him “as the quiet, reserved sixth grader who did not like to stand up to present in front of his peers.” Bryan, who was identified as gifted in first grade and has participated in Denton’s EXPO (Exceptional Potential) gifted program since, grew tremendously after participating in GOAL, she adds: “Through middle school I have seen his confidence grow both inside and outside the classroom. He is now an articulate leader among his peers, ready to add to class discussions, call role, and assist with running drills for the GOAL teams, and was selected to serve as an eighth-grade WEB leader” (program for the mentoring of incoming sixth graders).
For Bryan, being in GOAL has meant seeing what he already knew about soccer translated to other learning, along with the ability to do community service that he mentions being one of the most rewarding aspects of the program. He suggests that knowing multiple languages gives students like him a unique ability to help the community in many ways—something he’s practicing often through the lessons he’s learned in GOAL.
