EPL is a sports and enrichment summer program that develops and exposes 70 opportunity youth to out-of-the box and engaging learning through athletics, healthy living, and civic engagement. Rick is a Northwestern management professor and Steve built the largest youth basketball training organization in the Midwest. They recognized an opportunity to use sports as a vehicle to promote productive lif
e skills in children--eat well, dream big and work hard, communicate, become a lifelong learning, find the good in self and others, and be a great teammate. For the past five summers, Steve and Rick have partnered with a marvelous Evanston-based social services organization, YOU, which serves more than 1,500 "opportunity youth" with after-school and summer programs. Our 2017 program served 72 opportunity youth in Evanston. EAT:
Every morning, our youth are served a healthy and nutritious breakfast. Each meal is served “family style.” During every breakfast our coaches lead discussions and conversations that focus on current events and relevant issues in their lives. Youth are also exposed to healthy alternatives to their everyday meals. A White House fellow from Michele Obama’s initiative leads this aspect of EatPlayLearn. PLAY:
Our athletic programs are led by high school and university scholar-athletes, in conjunction with the staff at Full Package Athletics, one of Illinois’ largest basketball clubs. Daily sports activities include basketball, soccer, football, running, and dance; and we have added arts and crafts a few times per week for campers with less interest in sports. Our athletic sessions combine intensive, travel-team-style skills training with competitive and fun games to apply skills and learn teamwork fundamentals. LEARN:
We present each of our youth with opportunities to gain new, different, and interesting experiences, by exposing young people to varied careers and career paths. In addition, each young person spends his or her summer working on a cumulative civic engagement and problem solving projects. The campers have visited the Rehab Institute of Chicago and then built prosthetic hands, met role models from chiefs of police to a WNBA Finals MVP and Olympian, wrote and performed raps, and conducted a mock trial of Goldilocks vs. Our programs run from June 22-August 11 from 8am-11am.
