Play it Smart Program Promotes Responsibility, Commitment, Service

New Brunswick High School senior Emaje Scott said when his athletic involvement required that he be involved with a program that entailed a lot of volunteer hours, he thought it was going to be "corny"

"But it was cool," he said.

Over three years, Scott said he built a strong relationship with the academic coaches in the "Play it Smart" program, and valued their advocacy.

"The most important thing is having someone in your corner," he said while addressing his peers at the annual Play it Smart awards banquet on June 5.

Play it Smart is a program for student athletes at New Brunswick High School, designed to provide support for the students with their grades, volunteer efforts and college efforts.

Laurie Lazovick, or "Coach Laz" as she is known to her students, said the goals of the program are to increase the GPA of the students involved and prepare them for their SATs and promote community involvement.

Lazovick is an "academic coach" along with Miguel Ulloa and Rafael Castillo. They make up the staff of the program, meeting daily with students.

The program also promotes and developes "Transferable skills" such as time management and preparation.

Lazovick used the example of prepping for a football game.

"They know exactly what to do on Friday night right before it comes," she said.

The football players study their opponents in the days before a game, Lazovick said. That same connection can be made for studying for a test, she said.

"You have five days to prep for (playing) Carteret," she said. "It's the same thing with studying."

Lazovick said that a focus on those transferable skills is important, especially when preparing for college. The Play is Smart staff at the school assist students in being able to translate the skills associated with team sports - time management, taking direction, working as a team - onto a college resume.

In addition to the guidance staff working on the program, Lazovick said the school's new head football coach, Castor Losada, is a big supporter of the program, meeting individually with his players to discuss grades, benching players who are not meeting their academic expectations, and holding team building exercises every Friday.

"Coach infused this excitement, this energy," Lazovick said.

As of September, after 12 years of existance, Play it Smart will be expanded to include all sports at New Brunswick High School, Lazovick said.

Volunteering is the other huge part of the program, and on June 5, dozens of students were recognized at a banquet for completing more than 6,000 hours of community service since September.

For football players at New Brunswick High School, enrollment in the program is mandatory. So it is not uncommon to see hulking teenage boys folded into tiny chairs in early childhood education classes, cutting shapes out of construction paper, or reading books to the children, a regular volunteer gig for the program.

Play it Smart athletes also volunteer heavily with the Special Olympics in New Jersey, and volunteer at local organizations that feed the homeless, Lazovick said.

Lazovick said she believes that the students' efforts both inside and outside of the classroom are connected.

"In my opinion, there is a direct correlation between the hours they volunteer and the days they come to study hall," Lazovick said.

Several students had tales of pulling up their grades and their community service hours after enrolling in the program.

Senior Chad Cummings said he had a slow start to his freshman year of high school, before being enrolled in the program. He's since been accepted to multiple colleges, and will be attending Albright College in the fall.

At the banquet, close to 40 students were recognized for achieving 3.0 GPAs or better for three consecutive marking periods. Three students were recognized for having 4.0 GPAs in every marking period this year.

Kim Scott, a teacher at the Paul Robeson Community School Annex, said she supports the program as a mother first and a teacher second, having has a son go through it during his time at New Brunswick High School. 

"They instill such a desire for learning...for success," she said.

Scott said her son is now a sophomore at college, and has consistently made Dean's List since he arrived.

Scott now opens her kindergarten classroom up to the football players to come in and read with her students as part of their volunteer time.

"It's a wonderful program," she said.

At the banquet, Scott said that he planned on majoring in special education when he goes off to college in September. His interest in the field was sparked by his volunteering through Play it Smart for the Special Olympics.