Pro Prep Academy co-founders DJ Lalama and Andrew Harris are very excited to launch Pro Prep Academics, in conjunction with academic advisors Eric Vincent, Mitchell Harrison and Jayden McKoy.
“As former student-athletes, we all realize the importance of academia and what opportunities it can provide an athlete now and later in life,” said Lalama.
“Whether it being tutoring to get your marks up to attain a scholarship, performing well on your exam or to gain admission into the school of your choice, learning how to put the student in student-athlete opens up more doors than sport alone.”
“We have created an academic branch to support the student-athlete in every phase of their maturation,” continued Harris. “High school, transition into post-secondary or trades, and university prep and GPA adherence are all accessible to Pro Prep Academy members through our dedicated staff and program coordinators.”
The Academic Division will focus on complete student athlete holistic development, with an emphasis on ongoing academic support, planning your academic future and maximizing what’s being done at the post-secondary level.
As the Director of Academics, Vincent will oversee the program as a whole. He’ll also serve as the Academic Coordinator for High School Support, helping ensuring that student athletes from grades 7-12 are able to maximize their time efficiently. Harrison will serve as the Academic Coordinator for Transitional Support and Recruiting Services, with a focus on the decision-making process for grade 11-12 students, while McKoy is the Academic Coordinator for University Support. He’ll help students apply for the right programs, maximize their GPA and access resources available to them on campus.
“We help provide some of the structure that an athletic coach would on your team, but to the academic world,” said Vincent.
“Just as your athletic coaches are planning your practises and your training sessions, we’re going to do the same thing academically, planning study hall, and helping you access various training resources, such as writing skills workshops or online tutoring sessions.”
Pro Prep Academics kicks off this Sunday with the first of four FREE hour-long sessions via Microsoft Teams. They will run weekly from 8-9 pm, with the exception of this Sunday, which will start at 2 pm due to the Super Bowl. Led by Vincent, Harrison and McKoy, these sessions are open everyone, with an emphasis on getting students started on the right foot in the second semester. You can register by clicking here.
“These four sessions are very much focused on basic skills. The first session is all about setting up your second semester in terms of physical organization of your courses, your deadlines, your binders, your school supplies, that kind of thing,” Vincent said.
“Then we’re going to look at maximizing strategies of how to be an effective learner in the classroom, but also focusing on that remote learning piece, which has been a very difficult part of education for a lot of our student-athletes to navigate throughout this pandemic.”