Honing Young Minds and Bodies

In the old days, schools tended to focus exclusively on academic achievements. But with the realization that people have multiple intelligences, many schools try to strike a balance. Few succeed.

Enter Student Athlete Lab (SAL), a unique extra-curricular school that not only sharpens the mind, but hones the body as well. Designed for high school students who excel in terms of Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, a multiple intelligence form involving physical strength and fine motor skills, the Student Athlete Lab focuses on that strength to prepare them for collegiate scholarship opportunities.

Darrel Reece, one of the coaches for SAL, says “we believe that there are other skills, and times when you can take the next level to get a scholarship for [university].”

It’s not just about athletics; the academic side of students is also nurtured to make them all-around student-athletes.

Reece says, “We have certain kids that struggle in Math. We’ll have one of our tutors go out and tutor that particular kid.”

If you expect to find SAL using rote repetition to train their students, think again. The school trains and molds students in more than just the usual muscle memory exercises, it teaches them how to practice intelligently.

“We have so many different phases,” Reece explains. “We videotape everything: their practice, their pool workout, beach workout (during summer training), [and we gather] their academic information from their schools as well.”

Parents are also involved with the program, knowing everything that happens to their kids. As Reece explains, “my best way is to share it with the parents, being able to come and be able to see what goes on inside the gym.”

Parents also approve of Reece’s methods and many swear by its results.

Those results? Reece boasts of having students get scholarships to Loyola Marymount, UCLA, and even Harvard with the help of SAL’s training programs.

“This is what we do, this is our course. So much value in what we do because [of] the way we do it,” Reece adds.

For more information about Student Athlete Labs, visit www.studentathletelab.com or call (626) 214-8526.