AND

Wolves HoopsRegional Champs

Basketball Showcase

Positive Coaching Alliance. Warriors Hoops. Leadership Council.

PERSPECTIVESATHLETICS

Cheer Programs

CHICAGO | VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2, JUNE 2014 | @pcs_athletics

a seasonal review of the Perspectives Charter Schools Sports Program

Head Coach Waybon McConnell has been with the Perspec-tives IIT/Math & Science Academy/Joslin boys basketball team for just one season, but it was

enough time for his team to make all kinds of history.

The Wolves (15-14) not only won the most games in team history but also captured the first state tourna-ment regional championship in any sport in the history of either school.

They accom-plished the latter feat by defeating ACE Tech Char-ter, Hope College

Prep and Tilden within the space of four days to win the Chicago Mili-tary Academy at Bronzeville Class 2A regional crown.

In doing so, MSA/Joslin, the No. 3 seed in the six-team regional, toppled No. 1 seed Tildenwhich defeated PCS in the regional title game in 2013and No. 2 Hope.

That advanced the Wolves to the Robeson sectional, where they faced perennial power Hales Franciscan in a semifinal game. PCS sent three bus-es packed with red-clothed students to the game to cheer on the Wolves, who trailed by just six points late in the

contest before los-ing 68-54.

Seniors Tyre Dukes, Josh Sand-ers and Juvon Turner led the team, which also had an eight-game winning streak, won the CPS Blue White Tournament and finished second in the Lisle Thanks-giving Tournament

Through the ups and downs a basketball sea-son produces, they have always demonstrated the character of a champion while demonstrating a strong work ethic on the court, Mc-Connell said of his student-athletes.

With juniors Kameron Williams and Amonte Allen among the return-ees, the coach is aiming for similar success next sea-son.

MSA/Joslins sophomore team finished with a strong 16-10 record under head coach Tiray Jackson. The Wolves were 6-4 in the White-West conference, good for a tie for second place.

Season highlights included winning the Lisle Thanksgiv-ing Tournament and defeating Perspectives PLA/Tech in the PCS Showcase.

Top performers included sopho-more James Jordan and freshmen Eli-jah Moore, Deandre Lightfoot and Stefon Jones.

Jackson said his goal for next season is to reach the city playoffs and con-tend for the confer-ence championship but added:

Our success is not only measured by how well we perform on the court, but more im-portantly how well we strive to live A Disciplined Life off of it, despite the many influences that can surround our young men on a daily basis.

By Barry Temkin

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Class 2A Regional Champion Perspectives MSA/Joslin Wolves Boys Basketball Team.

Perspectives Athletics

CHICAGO

Mr. Temkin retired in 2008 from the Chicago Tribune and volunteers in the Perspectives Charter Schools athletic depart-ment. He spent his last 20 years at the Tribune writing a high school sports column that cov-ered hundreds of schools, including Perspectives.

P3 The PCS Show-case keeps getting bigger and better.

The sixth an-nual event took place Feb. 8 at the Auburn Gresham campus, with a re-cord 15 PCS basket-ball teams playing in a celebration of camaraderie, competition and A Disciplined Life. It also recognized the seniors on five of those teams.

Support from

many local busi-nesses and or-ganizations helped make the 2014 Showcase spe-cial. That included support from the Chatham locations of BMO Harris Bank and Potbelly Sandwich Shop, the Chicago Sky, Nike, Eastbay, Pruden-tial Securities, DLV Printing Service and Q-BBQ.

This year we got a lot of community support, and local

businesses and partner organiza-tions of ours played a role as sponsors or assisted us, said athletic director Vinay Mullick, add-ing that highlights included a raffle and a fundraiser for victims of the Washington, Ill., tornado. It was the biggest event we have had, extreme-ly well-attended.

By Barry Temkin

The Perspec-tives Leadership Academy/High School of Technol-ogy girls basket-ball team enjoyed another success-ful season under head coach Stefan Fisher, who cred-

ited the growth of our seniors as a key to the War-riors 15-10 record.

Senior Tatianna Green led the way, scoring 18 points and grab-bing 10 rebounds

a game. Young players also con-tributed, includ-ing sophomores Kierra Willis and Patricia Davis.

PLA/Techs freshman-sophomore team

had a 9-3 record and reached the semifinals of the Back of the Yards Tourna-ment. Head coach Sarah Lipphardts top contributors included sopho-mores Ariel Bell

and Tia Lofton and freshman Latanya Pitts.

@pcs_athletics

Perspectives Joslin has started a high school cheer program this school year. Head coach Sheena Baskerville wel-comed 13 athletes, including junior Mariah Vinson and sophomore Shanae Taylor.

They are re-sponsible and loyal to doing their best, Baskerville said.

The highlight of the inaugural season was per-forming at the PCS Showcase.

The Perspec-tives/IIT Math &

Science Academy cheer team had an outstanding season under co-head coaches Denise Moore and Jennifer Coyle. The cheerleaders, who included seniors Kendria Mallett and Jasmine Green and freshman Dejah Haywood, developed an un-breakable bond, Moore said.

I want the cheerleaders to develop into young women who take pride on and off the court, the coach added. I believe that we are a fam-ily and that fami-

lies stick together, and thus far they have.

Perspectives Leadership Acad-emy/High School of Technologys cheerleading team had another successful year boosting spirit at basketball games this season, includ-ing the playoffs.

Head coach Gabrielle Hunters top contributors included juniors Shalafonte Walls and Tashonna Rob-inson.

Hunters Per-spectives Middle Academy team also cheered at games. Eighth-graders Taylor Jones and Linda Taylor, 7th-grader Makayla Stewart and 6th-graders Khaylah Dotson and Tamariee Da-vis helped lead the way.

GET INVOLVEDat PERSPECTIVESCONTACT VINAY MULLICKe: VMULLICK@PCSEDU.ORGp: 312-604-2116www.pcsedu.orgtwitter: @PCS_ATHLETICS

Perspectives Charter Schools teams work hard to win, but they want to do it without losing their values.

Thats why athletic director Vinay Mullick has established a relationship with the Positive Coaching Alliance, a nationally recognized not-for-profit organization committed to providing all young athletes a positive, character-building sports experience. A key to its approach is the Double-Goal Coach, one who prizes victory but also the need to pursue it properly.

PCA trainer Leigh Podlesny, who has extensive experience as a softball player and coach, recently conducted a workshop for 30 coaches at Perspectives Charter Schools Network Day.

It showed the coaches how to handle different situations, the fact that being a Double-Goal Coach is not trying to win at all costs, Mullick said. We are trying to win but do it the right way and teach life lessons through sport.

PCS has worked with the Positive Coaching Alliance since 2011. Jason Sacks, the executive director of PCAs Chicago chapter, is an assistant coach for the Perspectives/IIT Math & Science Academy/Joslin boys varsity basketball team.

He has really helped reinforce our partnership with the PCA, Mullick said.

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Success is be-coming a tradition for the Perspectives Leadership Acad-emy/High School of Technology boys basketball pro-gram.

After reaching the final 16 in the

2013 Class 3A state tournament, the Warriors finished this season with a 15-11 record, includ-ing a 7-3, second-place finish in the Chicago Public League White South Conference.

Head coach Jevon Mamons team also won the McDipper Holiday Tourna-ment sportsman-ship award, and it qualified for the Chicago Public League playoffs for the third straight season.

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The Perspectives MSA/Joslin girls basketball team en-joyed its best sea-son ever, posting both a three-game winning streak and its first playoff game victory. The Wolves finished with a 10-18 record, an improvement of four victories over the season before.

Seniors Anto-

nique Brown and Eliza Sims and freshman Cori-yana Richardson were among the top contributors.

Assistant coach Meredith Parker expects Richard-son, freshman Des-tiny Garner and sophomores Kayla Buchanan and Nichole Fondren to help lead the way

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next season.

One of our goals is to play every practice and game

with high inten-sity, Parker said. We are confi-dent that we can achieve a win-

ning season. We have built a great foundation and are looking forward to next year.

Senior David Payne, sophomore Antonio Allen, jun-ior Charles Griffin, and senior Larry Coleman were among the top con-tributors.

We competed all year long, and I am proud of the guys for that, Mamon said.

Thanks to a talented corps of re-turning players, he anticipates a strong 2014-2015 season.

My expecta-tion is that we will be one of the top contenders to win conference, along with other strong showings in our Thanksgiving, holi-day, city and state playoffs, Mamon said.

The Warrior sophomore and freshman teams

both had outstand-ing, conference-championship seasons under head coach Curtis Strong. Sopho-mores Hakeem Adebimpe and Dijon Harris helped lead their team to a 16-8 overall record, 7-3 in league play. Freshmen Bartee Taylor and Lashaun Gist helped the freshman squad to a 23-7, 10-0 finish.

All three levels of the boys pro-gram qualified for the Chicago Public League playoffs for the first time ever.

Anderson said. They gave each other tips and made it an enjoy-able season.

The Perspectives Middle Academy boys basketball team appears to be in a rut. Fortunately, its a highly successful one.

Head coach Tristan Roches players not only went 3-0 to win the CPS Network 13 playoffs for the second consecutive season but also won their first regional playoff game for a repeat trip to the city final four. A loss in the semifi-nals couldnt dim the luster of those accomplishments, which included a 19-6 overall record.

Top contributors included 8th-graders Jackie Crawford, Marc Davis, DaVarius Huggins-Powe, Em-manuel Gipson and Tyler Danzy. Pros-

pects for next season look bright with the return of 7th-grad-ers DaJohn White, Jermari Harris and Sydney Smith.

Our goal is to keep returning to the final four and hopefully take the next step toward a city cham-pionship, Roche said.

The Perspectives/IIT Math & Science Academy middle school boys basket-ball team produced an outstanding sea-son, finishing with a 10-1 overall record, 6-1 in the Chicago Unity Basketball League, where it finished in second place. The team has made three championship game appearances in the last four seasons.

Jayden Gasby and Dajuan Gordon, both 7th-graders, were among the top performers for head coach Rick Danilkow-icz, who called defeat-ing the other two Perspectives teams at the PCS Showcase the seasons highlight.

It was a great sea-son, he said. The kids really came together as a team.

The Joslin middle school boys team finished 5-8 overall but was 4-2 in con-ference play behind 8th-graders RaKwon Roberts, Karson Heins, Lashaun Ban-ner, Joshua Yeo and Tyrone Miller.

By far it was a tough year from a win-loss perspec-tive, but ultimately my players were winners because they always played with true grit and heart, head coach Tiray Jackson said. They held each other accountable and played for each other and their schools pride each time they stepped onto the court.

Their effort was relentless game-in and game-out, and as a coach you cant ask for anything morestudents learning and falling in love with the game of bas-ketball.

The return of 7th-graders Marlon Young, Zhalik Nor-wood and Antwon Thomas and 6th-grader Kimmon Watson make Joslins prospects look good for next season.

7th-graders were an excellent addition that really helped our success.

Top 8th-graders included Journee Lockridge, Airiel Cegers, Aliyah Jones, Kiana Jones and Ki-erra Andrews. Dasa Gordon, LaDonna Ivery, LaHannah Giles and Dominique Young are a solid set of 7th-graders who will anchor the team next year, Yadron said.

The Joslin middle school girls team was 2-5 overall. Its players, who in-cluded 8th-grader Andria Ellis and 6th-graders Breona Lewis, Ranyiah Roberts and Kimari Watson, showed great improvement thanks to their posi-tive attitudes.

They learned to work as a team, and we became our own little family, head coach Michelle

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The Perspectives Middle Academy girls basketball team had a 5-6 record that included first place in its part of the PCS Showcase and third in the Gary Comer Tournament.

The girls had a great attitude, said head coach Pat Duffey, whose top performers included 8th-graders Angel Dixon, Diamond Jones and Rontasia White-side.

Next season looks promising, he said, with five strong 6th-graders ready to make the next step.

The Perspectives/IIT Math & Science Academy middle school team also was 5-6 overall.

Winning our first playoff game was a real step up for our program, head coach Bill Yadron said. We had a strong core of 8th-graders, but the

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The Perspectives Charter Schools ath-letic program wants to build great leaders as well as winning teams. Thats why it has formed A Disci-plined Life Leader-ship Council among

athletes at its Math & Science Acad-emy campus. It established a similar council at its Auburn Gresham campus a year ago.

The 10-member MSA council has met twice so far, focus-ing on the nature of leadership and char-acter development.

We feel we are off to a great start, said Meredith Parker, a teacher and coach who helps oversee

the council. We see this as having a posi-tive impact on MSA. We feel it is a great opportunity for our athletes to share thoughts about be-ing a leader, strug-gles with being a leader and becoming a better and more ef-fective leader.

PCS athletic direc-tor Vinay Mullick plans to establish an ADL Leadership Council at the Joslin campus next year.

Its a great oppor-tunity for athletes in all our sports to come together and share lessons learned and grow and build together and be better people, athletes and leaders, Mullick said. We are always looking for new ways to infuse ADL into what they do as athletes.