After School (and in the office): We Build Futures
Coming out of the pandemic, ASAP’s office has worked closely with schools throughout the city to help them re-engage their students. How? By providing after school opportunities that speak to their interests and can reignite their love for learning. To ensure our services reach communities with the greatest needs, this year ASAP’s office welcomed a new strategic engagement team. Their job is to prioritize outreach to neighborhood public schools and areas with the highest rates of gun violence.
Corporate Life
And when it comes to starting a new partnership with schools, it pays to have the right corporate messenger.
Enter ASAP’s newest Outreach Coordinator: John Green aka Johnny Scrabble
John will tell you that Scrabble changed his life. For the past 12 years John has been a beloved staple of ASAP Scrabble – coaching clubs at schools across the city while also training dozens of new Scrabble club leaders each year.
Dedication to service
Nearest and dearest to John’s heart has been his work at the Juvenile Justice Center. There, he introduces the game of Scrabble to incarcerated youth while sharing his own experiences from his time spent in the criminal justice system. John’s dedication to enriching the lives of young people in Philadelphia earned him the first-ever Mayor’s Philly Hero Award in 2017.
Given his resume, it’s safe to say John was more than qualified to take on a new corporate challenge. And since joining ASAP’s strategic engagement team in August, John has been instrumental in developing new partnerships with ASAP’s high-priority schools. From site visits to tabling events, he’s been meeting with anyone and everyone to spread the word about ASAP.
Strategic Outreach
The proof is in the numbers. Since just the start of the school year, John and the strategic engagement team have helped establish nearly 75 new clubs . This includes 58 new clubs in neighborhood public schools – 33 of which are in the 15 zip codes with the highest rates of gun violence, according to the City’s Office of the Controller.
“Instead of going to a school and trying to reach one or two teachers about Scrabble, now I can contact entire administration offices and get all four of our initiatives in there at once.”
– John Green
Johnny Corporate
And while making connections and charming school administrators is nothing new for John, office life is. As he likes to say, Johnny Scrabble has become Johnny Corporate.
On working alongside John in the office, fellow Outreach Coordinator Gianna Colantuono says:
It’s been wonderful watching John flourish in his new corporate position. And while he might be well-adjusted to office life now, it will never get old hearing from the young people he’s impacted through the years. Just last week, one of his former students at the Juvenile Justice Center reached out to John to say that he’s doing well and is furthering his studies at Temple University!
How does that make John feel? Those who know John will likely already know the answer:
In keeping with the theme for our 20th year — After School: We Build Futures – John’s story demonstrates how finding something you love can change the course of your life. This winter we hope you will consider helping ASAP connect more youth in Philadelphia with after school activities and experiences that can change their lives.
