Scott McCugh — empathy stories

I run a basketball program called Upward. It was started in Spartanburg, North Carolina, by Caz McCazlin. The goal of the program is to make every kid a winner. We evaluate every child's skill level and match kids up on game day based on teams generated by computer. All the teams are equal based on skill level, height, experience, and assertiveness. We cover each other man to man.

On Saturdays you won’t see any team get blown away, and when they say who won, I say "you did" because nobody lost. The parents come to every game. I do introductions for kids and we put on music. I've encouraged the parents to clap for both teams and they have.

It sounds like it’s just me, but there are probably ten people around here helping me, and there’s a lot to do. There's no way I could do this by myself. When I moved here there was nothing like this, and I think this is one of the reasons I'm here. There are a lot of social issues that could improve in this community. I think that if we keep this going for a couple of years it is going to fix a lot more problems than we know. We need love and forgiveness, and this program is teaching that.

Some people are probably intimidated by the social aspect, but if they would just give it a chance they would be surprised at who they would meet and what kinds of friends they would make. I think they would be shocked at how much we all have in common.

I hope next year there are 300 kids instead of 130. Sign your kid up for Upward!

Scott McCugh

Teacher, Greensboro West Elementary. Greensboro, Alabama

Outsidein. A Community Space for Hale County.