ARCHIVES OF THE MAYOR'S WEEKLY COLUMN Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani

A Public/Private Partnership Builds School Athletic Fields
By Mayor Rudy Giuliani

I was delighted to announce last week that the City is pledging $9 million to help build new school athletic fields in participation with Take the Field, Inc., a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to rebuild fields, gyms, swimming pools, and tracks at schools throughout the five boroughs. The City funding will be made available in the form of a challenge grant, through which the City will provide $3 for every $1 raised privately.

The announcement was made in Washington Heights, where we broke ground for the first Take the Field project, a football field at George Washington HS. Over the next year, Take the Field intends to spend approximately $16 million rebuilding at least one athletic complex in each borough as part of its pilot program.

Take the Field has been made possible by the hard work of Preston Robert Tisch, Richard Kahan, and Tony Kiser, who took the initiative on this project. Aside from the City's challenge grant, an additional $4 million will be made available by the City Council.

Our administration continues to offer innovative ideas that meet community needs through public and private cooperation. Several years ago I proposed a public-private partnership between City government, the private sector, and the Annenberg Foundation to restore permanently a comprehensive arts education curriculum for our students.

"Project Arts" restored arts education to every school in the city for the first time since arts education was discontinued during the fiscal crisis of the mid-'70s. Children are now able to create a better future for themselves through access to the arts.

Sports can do the same thing. Not only do sports teach things that are useful throughout life - such as teamwork, discipline, and a respect for rules - physical activity also is essential to a long and healthy life.

Involvement in school athletics is related to higher grade point averages as well. A study released last year by a Colorado university indicated that students who participate in some form of interscholastic activities have "significantly higher" grade-point averages than students who do not. And Education Week reported on a study last May which showed that seniors in high school who had participated in sports at some point in their high school careers interacted better with their peers.

The George Washington HS baseball team is one of the best in the country. Some of the youngsters who've played there have gone on to the major leagues, such as Manny Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians. The school also has an excellent academic program with a 95 percent graduation rate. While at the school, I asked how many of the children on the baseball team wanted to go to the major leagues and they all raised their hands. Then I asked how many of them wanted to graduate high school, and they all put up their hands. They understand that the two things are connected.

Take the Field will have projects underway in each borough by the end of the year - repairing tracks and fields at South Bronx HS, Brooklyn Tech HS, Port Richmond HS on Staten Island, and William C. Bryant HS and Far Rockaway HS in Queens. At Seward Park HS in Manhattan, Take the Field will repair basketball, handball, and tennis courts as well as the track.

Take the Field will directly impact students' lives and have a positive effect on their high school experience. With greater involvement in athletic programs, more of our city's public high school students are going to perform better in class and, in the long run, are going to be better equipped to face the challenges of life after high school. This is a terrific program, and our goal is to make all the city's sports facilities first-class because our children deserve nothing less.