Paramount : After-School Sports Club for At-Risk Students OKd

Paramount Unified School District board members this week unanimously approved a sports program to motivate underachieving fourth- and fifth-graders who are at risk of dropping out or joining gangs.

Starting Tuesday, the Sports Club at Lincoln Elementary in Paramount will offer these students one hour of after-school activities a week. Among the first activities planned will be a walking mini-marathon.

Principal Betty Forsythe said she hopes the program will help students improve their academic performance by teaching them leadership skills and discipline through sports activities. “We want to enhance their motivation to stay in school,” Forsythe said, adding that fourth and fifth grades are when school starts becoming more difficult for many students.

The pilot program will be staffed by a Lincoln teacher at a cost of $600 this semester. It will be paid for by part of the district’s share of the state tobacco tax. Districts are supposed to use such funds for programs that promote healthier lifestyles, officials said.