Pasadena School Program Update

[mnorwood]

The last time I posted it appeared as if my school program was going to be completely cut. Last month our school's grant was approved for another 5 year cycle. This year will be the start of my fifth year. Many individuals on this board were instrumental in making this program possible and over the years many others have contributed to it in the way of personal appearances and donations.

For as long as I have been reading this board there has been endless consternation about the direction pool is going and what can be done to revive it. I believe that the cornerstone of the revival of our great game is to put it in schools. I also believe a business plan should be developed to have pool in more family friendly environments that do not include boos, smoke, and gambling.

I will have three groups of 12 kids this year. At my campus we have a high degree of turnover in our student body so I end up seeing many more students over one term.

Here's hoping for another good year.

 

[Scott Lee]

With all the bad news about rooms closing, it's fantastic to hear GREAT news about your program, Marcus! I will definitely make another appearance to work with your kids the next time I come to Houston! They're all a bunch of little 'sponges', absorbing everything they can! Keep up the good work! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

 

[fathomblue]

With all the bad news about rooms closing, it's fantastic to hear GREAT news about your program, Marcus! I will definitely make another appearance to work with your kids the next time I come to Houston! They're all a bunch of little 'sponges', absorbing everything they can! Keep up the good work! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Scott, can you add a review of your thoughts of this pool school program and it's curriculum?

I wouldn't have a problem sending a few dollars (stress, a few, I'm no Daddy Warbucks) to a legit pool program for youths.

 

[Johnnyt]

Congrats on the renewal of the grant for five more years. You're a good man. Johnnyt

 

[Fatboy]

Scott, can you add a review of your thoughts of this pool school program and it's curriculum?

I wouldn't have a problem sending a few dollars (stress, a few, I'm no Daddy Warbucks) to a legit pool program for youths.

I agree, i'm certain AZB as a community could and would raise $$$ for things like this.

 

[Scott Lee]

Justin...There are several threads describing Marcus Norwood's after-school program (search under mnorwood). Even though he somehow managed to get his grant renewed, that only enables the program to occur at all. Believe me, he can always use contributions, and his program is a model for middle schools anywhere. He has small groups (about a dozen at a time) for an hour or so. There is an 'extra' classroom, where Marcus has 4 barboxes set up (graciously donated, delivered, and set up by realkingcobra). He teaches them fundamentals, care of equipment (these kids come mostly from homes with no money for exposure to pool...let alone buy their kid a cue), rules and etiquette. They are nice, smart, well-behaved kids, who just eat up chances to learn how to play pool. Several AzB people have donated to the program over the years, and I know Marcus appreciates everyone who has or can help. It's a really great program, and I'm glad it was renewed! There are a few high school programs, but this is the only middle school access to pocket billiards that I know of! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Scott, can you add a review of your thoughts of this pool school program and it's curriculum?

I wouldn't have a problem sending a few dollars (stress, a few, I'm no Daddy Warbucks) to a legit pool program for youths.

 

[Mr. Bond]

The last time I posted it appeared as if my school program was going to be completely cut. Last month our school's grant was approved for another 5 year cycle. This year will be the start of my fifth year. Many individuals on this board were instrumental in making this program possible and over the years many others have contributed to it in the way of personal appearances and donations.

For as long as I have been reading this board there has been endless consternation about the direction pool is going and what can be done to revive it. I believe that the cornerstone of the revival of our great game is to put it in schools. I also believe a business plan should be developed to have pool in more family friendly environments that do not include boos, smoke, and gambling.

I will have three groups of 12 kids this year. At my campus we have a high degree of turnover in our student body so I end up seeing many more students over one term.

Here's hoping for another good year.

Big congrats to you and the kids , that's really awesome.
We need lots more people like you in the pool world.
If I still lived in Texas I'd come shake your hand.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

With all the bad news about rooms closing, it's fantastic to hear GREAT news about your program, Marcus! I will definitely make another appearance to work with your kids the next time I come to Houston! They're all a bunch of little 'sponges', absorbing everything they can! Keep up the good work! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Yes Marcus is trying to get kids interested in Pool. That is a very good thing.

But the vast majority of young people want Technology Games (wii, X-Box,etc.), Face Book, Cell Phones. I think Pool requires too much time to master, or be good at.

I see grand parents bring the grand kids in our community pool room, most will stay 30 minutes, and may 1 out of 20 is interested in hitting a ball with a stick. Most have their cell phone going, or are playing some hand held video game at the same time.

People today do not save for nothing, they want it now, instant gratification, buy it with a credit card, and don’t pay the credit card bill in many cases. Save, Law A Way, are words not in the dictionary, or vocabulary circa 2013.

We live in a different time, and the Classic Pool Rooms are rare, and what little Pool "rooms” are left depend in many case on Alcohol Sales to pay the bills. Most in the Valley of the Sun are BARS with Pool Tables.

How can an interest in Pool be rekindled? That is the 10 Million dollar question. No one seem to know the answer too.

 

[Juice]

Good job man appreciate all your trying to do brother!

 

[Tony_in_MD]

Thank you for all you do. Is there a PayPal account setup so you can receive monetary donations?

The last time I posted it appeared as if my school program was going to be completely cut. Last month our school's grant was approved for another 5 year cycle. This year will be the start of my fifth year. Many individuals on this board were instrumental in making this program possible and over the years many others have contributed to it in the way of personal appearances and donations.

For as long as I have been reading this board there has been endless consternation about the direction pool is going and what can be done to revive it. I believe that the cornerstone of the revival of our great game is to put it in schools. I also believe a business plan should be developed to have pool in more family friendly environments that do not include boos, smoke, and gambling.

I will have three groups of 12 kids this year. At my campus we have a high degree of turnover in our student body so I end up seeing many more students over one term.

Here's hoping for another good year.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[hang-the-9]

The last time I posted it appeared as if my school program was going to be completely cut. Last month our school's grant was approved for another 5 year cycle. This year will be the start of my fifth year. Many individuals on this board were instrumental in making this program possible and over the years many others have contributed to it in the way of personal appearances and donations.

For as long as I have been reading this board there has been endless consternation about the direction pool is going and what can be done to revive it. I believe that the cornerstone of the revival of our great game is to put it in schools. I also believe a business plan should be developed to have pool in more family friendly environments that do not include boos, smoke, and gambling.

I will have three groups of 12 kids this year. At my campus we have a high degree of turnover in our student body so I end up seeing many more students over one term.

Here's hoping for another good year.

Glad to hear of the success. I love seeing the junior programs get new players. I think also that the parents need to be involved as well, there are way too many pool players with kids that do not bring them around to play, or kids that play in our league but only during the day the league is on, they do not go to tournaments or practice outside of league time.

Without the extra time spent playing with different people and learning outside of the league, there is not much chance of a real player developing. I bring my son to just about every tournament I go to, which is a pain as every entry fee is doubled and once you add in food and drinks for us, even if one of us cashes, it's often a loss overall hehe. But I really think because I brought him into the pool player innner circle with tournaments and introducing him to the really good players that is what caused him to really love to play and get good at it.

There is not a lot of better things that watching your kid do really well at something, especially when you hear things like "what the hell, I just lost to a 13 yr old!" LOL. We just played in a tournament last night, my son beat someone and later I heard him saying to a friend "I beat you, and I lost to a 13 yr old, so what does that make you??".

 

[jimmyg]

Marcus, please post an address & name to make a check payable to, I'd like to help a little, and I'm sure many others here would like to also.

J

 

[hang-the-9]

We live in a different time, and the Classic Pool Rooms are rare, and what little Pool "rooms” are left depend in many case on Alcohol Sales to pay the bills. Most in the Valley of the Sun are BARS with Pool Tables.

How can an interest in Pool be rekindled? That is the 10 Million dollar question. No one seem to know the answer too.

I think it's through the current players. I keep using myself as an example in these posts, but it seems to fit because my son ended up being really into pool and is good at it. I took him with me to play from when he was 8, brought him to leagues, tournaments even when he was not too good, eventually at about 10 he started to win, and continued to learn till at 13 he won the Jr State championship. Now his goal is to get a pool table for the house so he can practice more and get even better. The only players his age or even older that are better than him have a table at home and also play pool 3-4-5 times a week, where we can only play 2-3 times at the most, with not much practice time either, just in league and tournaments.

If I was not taking him with me to all the tournaments, watching players, introducing him to pro players when we met them, teaching him, watching AccuStats videos with him, I don't think he'd like pool 1/10th as much. From what I see in many of the junior players that don't want to lay as much as my son, it's because the parent's do not get involved in directing them to steer the kids towards new places to play in like tournaments, especially against adults as the kids get better.

 

[macguy]

Yes Marcus is trying to get kids interested in Pool. That is a very good thing.

But the vast majority of young people want Technology Games (wii, X-Box,etc.), Face Book, Cell Phones. I think Pool requires too much time to master, or be good at.

I see grand parents bring the grand kids in our community pool room, most will stay 30 minutes, and may 1 out of 20 is interested in hitting a ball with a stick. Most have their cell phone going, or are playing some hand held video game at the same time.

People today do not save for nothing, they want it now, instant gratification, buy it with a credit card, and don’t pay the credit card bill in many cases. Save, Law A Way, are words not in the dictionary, or vocabulary circa 2013.

We live in a different time, and the Classic Pool Rooms are rare, and what little Pool "rooms” are left depend in many case on Alcohol Sales to pay the bills. Most in the Valley of the Sun are BARS with Pool Tables.

How can an interest in Pool be rekindled? That is the 10 Million dollar question. No one seem to know the answer too.

I think you miss the most obvious, Pool is fun to play. People love to compete and get good at things. Pool does not really require any extra ordinary skills. After a short time most anybody if they are starting at a beginner level will see improvement and along with that added satisfaction. It is difficult to play at a high level without some real dedication and a little talent, but that does not diminish the real fun the game provides.

Pool will never be a big sport that is just a fact. It will never be golf but that does not matter. It is a 150 year old plus game that is enjoyed by millions everyday. The more people and especially young people are exposed to the game the more will embrace it. I see it all the time. I have a large home with a billiard room. It never fails, anytime when we have of get-togethers at the house even barbecues, all the action ends up in the billiard room. Even the kids with the cell phones put them away for a few hours. The last election I had meetings at the house and even then they ended up discussing strategy at the pool table.
Bottom line, pool is fun even if pros can't make a living at it, so what.

 

[mnorwood]

Thanks for the all the kind words. I would like to explain how the program works. The federal government awarded block grants to state entities. Our grant was awarded to the Harris County Department of Education. Harris county then took applications from schools. Our school met all of its performance goals for the previous five years which really helped get it renewed. Once the money is awarded the bulk of the grant money is spent on salaries for staff. Some of the activities are provided by outside instructors.

In addition to pool I spend an hour tutoring kids, helping with homework and mentoring selected students. I also run classes that help kids raise their math achievement. In recent years we have been fortunate to benefit from some new free online instructional tools for math. Some of my time during the pool class gets back to instruction on basic things. I also end up teaching social skills, speech and basic manners/courtesy.

Any donations not only help the pool program but the program as a whole. There are some things that I would like to buy like chalk, better racks, 1 set of balls and about 5 more cues.

Marcus Norwood
1611 Cypress Hollow
Pearland Texas 77581

paypal email: helennorwood@yahoo.com

 

[Scott Lee]

Bruce...Thanks so much for your negative post in this positive thread. If you have nothing positive to add, why post at all? Oh yeah, now I remember...you just like to feel self-important! Go back to your narrow minded hole you crawled out of, and leave the positive things in pool to people who really care, and want to help. :angry:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Yes Marcus is trying to get kids interested in Pool. That is a very good thing.

But the vast majority of young people want Technology Games (wii, X-Box,etc.), Face Book, Cell Phones. I think Pool requires too much time to master, or be good at.

I see grand parents bring the grand kids in our community pool room, most will stay 30 minutes, and may 1 out of 20 is interested in hitting a ball with a stick. Most have their cell phone going, or are playing some hand held video game at the same time.

People today do not save for nothing, they want it now, instant gratification, buy it with a credit card, and don’t pay the credit card bill in many cases. Save, Law A Way, are words not in the dictionary, or vocabulary circa 2013.

We live in a different time, and the Classic Pool Rooms are rare, and what little Pool "rooms” are left depend in many case on Alcohol Sales to pay the bills. Most in the Valley of the Sun are BARS with Pool Tables.

How can an interest in Pool be rekindled? That is the 10 Million dollar question. No one seem to know the answer too.

 

[macguy]

Thanks for the all the kind words. I would like to explain how the program works. The federal government awarded block grants to state entities. Our grant was awarded to the Harris County Department of Education. Harris county then took applications from schools. Our school met all of its performance goals for the previous five years which really helped get it renewed. Once the money is awarded the bulk of the grant money is spent on salaries for staff. Some of the activities are provided by outside instructors.

In addition to pool I spend an hour tutoring kids, helping with homework and mentoring selected students. I also run classes that help kids raise their math achievement. In recent years we have been fortunate to benefit from some new free online instructional tools for math. Some of my time during the pool class gets back to instruction on basic things. I also end up teaching social skills, speech and basic manners/courtesy.

Any donations not only help the pool program but the program as a whole. There are some things that I would like to buy like chalk, better racks, 1 set of balls and about 5 more cues.

Marcus Norwood
1611 Cypress Hollow
Pearland Texas 77581

paypal email: helennorwood@yahoo.com

Where do the pool classes take place, are they at a local billiard room? I used to do something like that years ago with a junior collage. They came to a bowling alley I used to hang around. The old guy who was doing it had a stroke and they just asked me because everyone knew me as a player. It was fun and I was surprised how much actual interest they had. I would see them in the pool room later with their families maybe showing off some of what they could now do. It was funny to see the kids always beating their fathers. Probably the first time they ever beat him at anything.

 

[mnorwood]

I have a classroom with 4 8 foot valley boxes in it. As far as I know this is the only pool classroom in the country.

 

[jimmyg]

Important enough for a bump.....

 

[fathomblue]

PM sent to the youth instructor.