Blazers put in the hours on and off the field

As a shooting guard for the varsity boys' basketball team, sophomore Marquis Tyler must be persistent about perfecting his jump shot. Tyler, who dreams of one day playing in college, also must maintain at least a 2.00 GPA to stay eligible for the team, which he can do with the help of mandatory team study halls. But last school year, with only a 0.86 GPA, Tyler's hoop dreams may have seemed unattainable.

Tyler, who now has a 3.00 GPA, attributes his improved grades to attending required study halls with his teammates every day after school from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. First-year Physical Education (P.E.) teacher and head basketball coach Orlando Larracuente felt that study halls were necessary based on some of his players' low grades the previous year. "It's like a no-brainer; if you have a situation where academics is an issue, then you're going to do something about it," says Larracuente.

Along with the varsity boys' basketball team, the JV football, varsity football and JV boys' soccer teams also require team study halls in order to help players stay eligible. Last school year, five of the players currently on varsity basketball were ineligible; this year, there was only one ineligibility after first-quarter grades. The varsity football team had ten ineligible players after first-quarter grades last year but only four this year.

Ninth-grade administrator James Short, former varsity football head coach, initiated study halls two years ago because many potential players had GPAs below 2.00. "We had so many of our students that were ineligible that none of our good players could be on the field,"
Short recalls.

Work first, play second

Although other teams take study halls very seriously, some players do not treat it as essential homework time. "My grades are almost always better in soccer season," says Jesse Ruf, a sophomore on the JV soccer team, "but I think a lot of the team hated [study halls] because only about five took it seriously, and a lot of people would come but wouldn't do any work."

For the varsity football team, however, missing a study hall means less playing time during the next game and extra running in practice.
On the varsity boys' basketball team, there is a "no-nonsense approach," according to assistant coach Sharief Hashim: If a player misses a study hall without an excuse, he is off the team.

No "I" in team

As Larracuente walks down the P.E. hallway just after 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 29, he hears a murmur of voices coming from room 117"the basketball study hall room. As he stands silently in the doorway, the players gradually look up and brace themselves for what they are about to hear from their noticeably agitated coach.

"If you guys aren't going to straighten up, then we'll just run this until 5:30," Larracuente warns his team during what is supposed to be a silent study hall. "Now, stop talking, and do your work!"
Larracuente, who has been in education for 22 years, says study halls create team unity along with higher GPAs. "First of all, we are a team; even if you have a high GPA, you must show you're a part of the team and the program, so you still need to come to study hall and do your work," says Larracuente.

It's not a game

Blair graduate Michael Hayes, now a linebacker for West Virginia State University, must maintain not only the tackling skills he learned in high school but also the study habits. Without attending daily study halls while he was at Blair, Hayes says that he probably would not be playing football at a Division II school, where he must maintain a 2.00 GPA to stay eligible. "[Study hall] was very helpful. It made me sit down and do my work, and my grades improved," says Hayes.
"Everyone who went, their GPAs went up."

Twelve Blazers have continued playing football in college in the past two years. Most of these players "never even thought about going to college" until their grades began to improve due to study halls, according to Short. The results of study halls are noticeable in other ways too: Only about ten percent of the players on the varsity football team attended summer school this year, down from about 60 percent two years ago.

Senior Fabian Dunn, an offensive guard and defensive end, says that study halls are good preparation for what players meet at the college level. "You have to go to study halls in college, so you might as well start in high school," says Dunn, who plans to play football in college. "[Coaches] have to make sure players keep their grades up because academics come first."

Dahlia Levin, a learning specialist for the Academic Support & Career Development Unit (ASCDU) at the University of Maryland, says that nearly all Division I colleges require tutoring for their student-athletes if their grades are too low. Levin says that many times, student-athletes will stay in the ASCDU program all throughout college, though some leave once their grades improve. Those who are out of the program because their grades are high enough wish they could still be in it because the support system was so helpful, according to Levin.

Mandatory study halls yield no negative consequences for the team, emphasizes Hashim. "I know it can be difficult for players to commit their time to study hall," says Hashim. "But it gives them the chance to realize that they have to be a lot more than players"they have to be students."