{"id":221,"date":"2015-06-27T00:40:03","date_gmt":"2015-06-27T04:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/?p=221"},"modified":"2015-06-27T07:48:35","modified_gmt":"2015-06-27T11:48:35","slug":"academics-and-athletics-success-at-the-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/academics-and-athletics-success-at-the-base\/","title":{"rendered":"Academics and Athletics = Success at The Base"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qkt6tbNtdBM?rel=0\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<strong>By Dakota Antelman<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Robert Lewis expects the athletes he and his staff members mentor at his program \u2014 The Base \u2014 to be much more than athletes &#8211; he expects them to be successful students. By combining academic lessons and baseball, Lewis is working to send Boston\u2019s African-American and Latino students to college.<\/p>\n<p>Located in Roxbury, The Base was created as \u201ca place for Boston\u2019s youth to belong.\u201d Lewis and the staff he personally recruited tutor and provide test prep and college application assistance to students. The staff also train and coach the student-athletes to participate in national and local games and tournaments. However, Lewis\u2019 primary goal is to send student-athletes to college.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular tiled-gallery-unresized\" data-original-width=\"860\" data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:1,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/nehsjc.org\\\/zephyr\\\/academics-and-athletics-success-at-the-base\\\/&quot;,&quot;likes_blog_id&quot;:94486138}' itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\" > <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 860px; height: 312px;\" data-original-width=\"860\" data-original-height=\"312\" > <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 595px; height: 312px;\" data-original-width=\"595\" data-original-height=\"312\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/base3\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"591\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"308\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"226\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base3.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"3872,2016\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;3.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D3000&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1434979172&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0125&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"base3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base3-300x156.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base3-1024x533.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base3.jpg?w=591&#038;h=308&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base3.jpg 3872w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base3-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base3-1024x533.jpg 1024w\" width=\"591\" height=\"308\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"591\" data-original-height=\"308\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"base3\" alt=\"base3\" style=\"width: 591px; height: 308px;\" \/> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 265px; height: 312px;\" data-original-width=\"265\" data-original-height=\"312\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/base2\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"261\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"308\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"225\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base2.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1424,1680\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D3000&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1434979232&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;40&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.05&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"base2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base2-254x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base2-868x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base2.jpg?w=261&#038;h=308&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base2.jpg 1424w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base2-254x300.jpg 254w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base2-868x1024.jpg 868w\" width=\"261\" height=\"308\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"261\" data-original-height=\"308\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"base2\" alt=\"base2\" style=\"width: 261px; height: 308px;\" \/> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 860px; height: 580px;\" data-original-width=\"860\" data-original-height=\"580\" > <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 495px; height: 580px;\" data-original-width=\"495\" data-original-height=\"580\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/base4\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"491\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"576\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"227\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base4.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2088,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D3000&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1434978853&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;29&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.033333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"base4\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base4-256x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base4-873x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base4.jpg?w=491&#038;h=576&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base4.jpg 2088w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base4-256x300.jpg 256w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base4-873x1024.jpg 873w\" width=\"491\" height=\"576\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"491\" data-original-height=\"576\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"base4\" alt=\"base4\" style=\"width: 491px; height: 576px;\" \/> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <div class=\"gallery-group images-2\" style=\"width: 365px; height: 580px;\" data-original-width=\"365\" data-original-height=\"580\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/academics-and-athletics-success-at-the-base\/base5\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"361\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"204\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"229\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base5.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2520,1424\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D3000&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1434978876&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;44&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.1&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"base5\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base5-300x170.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base5-1024x579.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base5.jpg?w=361&#038;h=204&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base5.jpg 2520w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base5-300x170.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base5-1024x579.jpg 1024w\" width=\"361\" height=\"204\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"361\" data-original-height=\"204\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"base5\" alt=\"base5\" style=\"width: 361px; height: 204px;\" \/> <\/a> <\/div> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/base1a\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"361\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"368\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"233\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base1a.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2592,2648\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;3.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D3000&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1434978631&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.05&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"base1a\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base1a-294x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base1a-1002x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base1a.jpg?w=361&#038;h=368&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base1a.jpg 2592w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base1a-294x300.jpg 294w, https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base1a-1002x1024.jpg 1002w\" width=\"361\" height=\"368\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"361\" data-original-height=\"368\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"base1a\" alt=\"base1a\" style=\"width: 361px; height: 368px;\" \/> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <\/div>\n<p>\u201cSix to seven percent of black and Latino boys in America graduate college. That is unacceptable for anyone,\u201d Lewis said, pounding the table in front of him to emphasize his statement. \u201cWe cannot live in a place that is the United States of America where a population of folks don\u2019t get access when another population does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis said he seeks to balance the inequality by providing his student-athletes with the skills to excel in both high school and college. He has an army of teachers and alumni to help him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy job is to be directly involved in all of the students\u2019 schools in the program and provide services they need,\u201d said Mario Austin, the academic and admissions specialist at The Base. \u201cWe just work on being almost a surrogate parent as well. We go to graduations, we\u2019re there in guidance [counselor offices], we go to schools.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis started The Base in the late 1970s as the Boston Astros. He always sought to further college opportunities for his student-athletes. \u00a0This year, The Base was given a $50,000 grant by Gov. Charlie Baker to support the program. Lewis added that the grant, as well as coverage from Boston media, has also allowed him to secure scholarships from colleges and universities for his student-athletes.<\/p>\n<p>The Base doesn\u2019t actively recruit students. Lewis said students show up at the Walnut Avenue headquarters, sometimes brought by others who are in the program. However, he doesn\u2019t accept everyone. Students must \u201cearn their spot,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n<p>Academics are at the core of The Base\u2019s mission. Even though the organization boasts a national champion baseball team, it pursues academic scholarships for the students rather than athletic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t go for athletic scholarships because those can be taken away if the coach doesn&#8217;t like you or you get hurt or something,\u201d Austin said. \u201cAcademics can be hard to get taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Students in the program understand the importance of academics. A large portion of their love for Lewis stems from how much he and his staff have helped them with test scores and GPA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you don\u2019t get your education in, you don\u2019t get to play baseball,\u201d said Miguel Lorenzo, a student-athlete at The Base. \u201cSome of the guys come here thinking that baseball is everything, but that\u2019s not it. It\u2019s baseball and school up at the college level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis said he wants his student-athletes to excel socially, academically and athletically.While he acknowledges equality has not yet been achieved, he believes The Base is helping to create a culture without barriers for urban youth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you look at urban America, our folks know how to get to wakes and funeral homes, but they don\u2019t know the addresses to admissions offices of local colleges,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cI\u2019m shattering that. I\u2019m creating a new paradigm of change.\u201d<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"overflow-y: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/magic.piktochart.com\/embed\/6774550-the-rapid-growth-of-the-base\" width=\"800\" height=\"1000\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/embed?mid=zRr5seWaI0nk.k1RW7LqXqTpY\" width=\"850\" height=\"480\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dakota Antelman Robert Lewis expects the athletes he and his staff members mentor at his program \u2014 The Base \u2014 to be much more than athletes &#8211; he expects them to be successful students. By combining academic lessons and baseball, Lewis is working to send Boston\u2019s African-American and Latino students to college. Located in Roxbury, The Base was created [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-row-1","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6os9Y-3z","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/base1a.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions\/259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}