Turlock charter school shoots, scores with team sports

A new school for at-risk secondary students is scoring points with kids through team sports.

Fusion Charter coach Sharile Abbasi has a 17-student flag football team in training after four months of basketball. This first year, Fusion’s teams ignored the usual seasons for school sports. But a small sports league is in the offing, giving teens a chance at competing against other small schools.

“These guys have never had a chance to be on a team,” said Abbasi, a special-education teacher at the school who volunteered for coach duties. “They may not talk about it, but you can hear them shout, ‘Fusion!’ You can tell by their actions they are proud to be here.”

The public charter is run by the nonprofit Aspiranet and serves 185 seventh-grade through high school students, mostly boys. Students spend at least three hours a day at school but can do the rest of their work online. The school’s focus is kids who, because of emotional or behavioral issues, were not a good fit on a regular campus.

“Some of the behaviors we see in the classroom, you don’t see that out here,” Abbasi said.

“I just like exercising,” said Anthony Griffith, 17. “When I play, it takes a lot of things off my mind. I can go back to class and work.” A senior, he now gets straight A’s and is planning a career in the Army, Griffith said.

A tall, athletically built 16-year-old said basketball was a way to make friends. “I didn’t know many kids. Now I know their names. We have something to talk about,” said Aaron Klinghardt. “It helps build, like, teamwork. In the future, we’re going to be working with people – it helps anywhere in life.”

“You get to meet other people,” said David Smith, 16. After a beat, he added, “If I would’ve never got into basketball, I would have been doing bad things.” Smith said he goes to the park near his house every day to practice his shots.

For Benil Khodiadeh, 15, basketball is just fun. His grades are the same. He always had friends. “I get to run around. I’m having fun,” he said.

The teams are no-cut. Anyone who wants to play has a spot, Abbasi said. Lots of his players still get into trouble off the court. “They try,” he said with a shrug, “and we appreciate the effort.”

Sports build confidence in kids who have not had a lot of successes in their lives, said Principal Siobhan Hanna. “You see that out on the field, they have such a swagger. That’s so different,” she said with a smile.

“A lot of these students would never have a chance to be on a regular high school team,” Hanna noted. Low grades alone would have ended the chance for most, and the tough competition of a large school would have dashed the hopes of others.

But team spirit has seeped into more than just games, and she hopes to find a way to pay league fees, buy good shoes and find uniforms for Fusion players.

“They already like the sports, but to actually look like a team, that would mean a lot,” said Ellyn Brannon, community engagement specialist for Aspiranet.

Hanna said she has learned to follow the lead of her students’ interests. “With this population, that’s what you have to do,” she said. Sports has been the most popular of a variety of activities she has tried to implement.

A dance company folded when too few could get rides to practice. But a Center for Human Services program, gleaning backyard fruit donated by community members, was a hit.

Picking fruit is a healthy lifestyles program. Basketball practice, which includes a lot of running, has also had health benefits. Besides getting more exercise, several teen smokers were appalled at their loss of stamina and decided to quit, Hanna said.

This story was originally published April 1, 2015 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Turlock charter school shoots, scores with team sports."