LA

“Teaching kids to write is equivalent to teaching kids to think; giving kids the tools to write is giving them the resources to be successful in life. Combining all of this with soccer is like putting peanut butter with chocolate. I am surprised every public school hasn’t adopted a SCORES program.”

- Best Selling Author Stephen King

America SCORES LA (known locally as LA SCORES) was founded in 2002 to address the need for quality after-school programs in the Palms area, one of Los Angeles’ socio-economically under-served communities.  LA SCORES provides a safe after-school alternative in an area where youth centers, libraries and parks are mostly absent. Our overall goal is to cultivate the literacy and leadership skills that enable disadvantaged youth to excel in school and in life.

The comprehensive poetry, community service, and soccer curriculum we have created to achieve this goal serves over 400 students.

LA SCORES is an independent affiliate of America SCORES, a national organization founded in 1994 by a Teach for America teacher serving in Washington D.C.  We are structured as a local grassroots organization, responsible for securing funding to operate our program.

After launching at two elementary schools in the fall of 2002, LA SCORES has grown steadily over the past nine years.  Today we operate five days a week, between 2:30-6:00 p.m., in collaboration with Charnock Road, Braddock and Palms Elementary Schools as well as Palms Middle School of the Los Angeles Unified School District. In FY 2011, a total of 400 student athletes in grades K-12 (including high school alumni) participate in LA SCORES led by a staff of 30 afterschool coaches.  Coaches serve as literacy and/or soccer coaches, and every teacher is trained to use our innovative curricula.

“Kids deserve somebody to believe in them and to give them the support that they need to let them know that they can be a success. I have witnessed AMERICA SCORES do just this for so many kids in our cities across the country.”

- Brandi Chastain, U.S. Women’s National Team Champion and National Spokesperson for AMERICA SCORES