In 2008, Concord-Carlisle (Mass.) High School alumnus Simon Cataldo was working as a special education math teach at Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem.
While struggling initially to engage his students in academics, he brought to them an unfamiliar concept — the sport of lacrosse.
In doing so, Cataldo found that the students’ interest in playing this newfound game proved to have a correlation in the classroom, as grades and test scores of those who played went up
Within two years, Harlem Lacrosse was formed in an effort to provide at-risk and vulnerable students with an opportunity to empower them in the classroom to reach their full potential.
