{"id":117984,"date":"2026-01-31T00:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/117984\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T00:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:36:26","slug":"jazz-chisholm-jr-gives-back-to-community-school-55-in-the-bronx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/117984\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazz Chisholm Jr. gives back to Community School 55 in the Bronx"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Jazz Chisholm Jr.<\/a> walked down the aisle in the auditorium of Community School 55, about three classrooms worth of students erupted with cheers as the Yankee infielder made his way to the microphone.<\/p>\n

Along with Principal Luis Torres, Chisholm Jr. announced to the students that through his foundation, the Jazz Chisholm Foundation, completely overhauled the school\u2019s computer lab.<\/p>\n

Through the foundation\u2019s Tunnel Fits & Kicks Fashion Event held on May 19, which raised over $200,000 according to the foundation\u2019s website, the foundation donated to the school 25 touchscreen laptops, a pair of Jordan sneakers for each student in one of the fifth grader classes, a 68-inch interactive video board and a Playstation 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always about giving back to the future,\u201d Chisholm Jr. said when speaking to reporters before the unveiling of the new computer lab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was raised in public school. I\u2019m a kid from the hood that didn\u2019t really get as much opportunity as anybody else. I just made best of the opportunities I got.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chisholm Jr.\u2019s work with Community School 55 is now going three years strong, he said. What initially began with a signed poster and a visit to the school had evolved to a completely refurbished STEM lab for the students to take statewide exams, take part in hands-on learning and destress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoy being able to come into the school and hang out with the kids,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery time I come here, I feel like I\u2019m a part of these kids. I feel like this is where I\u2019m from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the importance of athletes giving back to their communities, Chisholm Jr. said it feels different when giving back to the communities he has attachments with.<\/p>\n

The Jazz Chisholm Foundation not only gives back to communities in New York, including the Bronx and Brooklyn where his great-grandfather is from, but to Florida, where his father is from, and the Bahamas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really love it,\u201d Chisholm said. \u201cI love coming and seeing the kids smile every day. They read me a book, I read them a book; it\u2019s all fun and games every time I come in.\u201d<\/p>\n

A part of why Chisholm Jr. began his foundation was to give kids opportunities he had growing up. Chisholm Jr. recalled playing Little League baseball around age 12 when Gary Sheffield<\/a> began rebuilding the fields he played on.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Sheffield] really gave us some knowledge,\u201d Chisholm Jr. said. \u201cI always talk to him now from then and I always thank him every time I see him for giving me a chance. If it wasn\u2019t for him, you never know where I would have been right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-time All-Star also mentioned CC Sabathia<\/a> helped him a lot when Chisholm was in the minors and gave him guidance at 16 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI seen how genuine they were about it,\u201d Chisholm said when asked about taking those experiences and providing that with his foundation today.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like they wanted to be there. Gary Sheffield was coming out there, slides and a t-shirt; He was just randomly out there and then he helps. Same with CC. It wasn\u2019t a built in program. He came out there just to help and that\u2019s what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the assembly in the auditorium, Chisholm Jr. was able to announce the new computer lab to the students, which was kept a secret up until then.<\/p>\n

Principal Torres was able to thank Chisholm and his foundation for the continued work with the school and had presented Chisholm with a Certificate of Merit from the President of the Borough of the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just incredible,\u201d Torres said. \u201cJazz has become a little brother. Me and him, we communicate via Instagram. Just to see him happy was incredible. I just wanted him to be happy with that\u201d<\/p>\n

Torres and Chisholm Jr.\u2019s friendship expanded over the past few years as they continued to explore ways to improve the school. Torres said he gave Chisholm a bracelet with the school name and logo on it and has seen games where Chisholm Jr. wears it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave him a CS55 wristband and he wore it during the playoffs,\u201d Torres said. \u201cIn one of the games that he played in, he had two home runs. This is the type of young man he is. Wherever he goes, he carries the children on his shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the assembly, Chisholm Jr. went upstairs where the school band played music for him before the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Chisholm Jr. was able to experience the new Stem lab along with the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super important,\u201d Chisholm Jr. said about athletes helping in their communities. \u201cI feel like we\u2019re superheroes to kids. I had a kid tell me this offseason that I\u2019m this superhero. \u2018I want to be like you.\u2019 How can you not be moved by something like that and want to do better for your community, especially where you came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his meeting with reporters, Chisholm Jr. was asked some baseball related questions, including the Yankees offseason, re-signing of outfield Cody Bellinger<\/a> and the World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing back a lot of the same players means that they trust in this team,\u201d Chisholm Jr. said regarding the Yankees offseason moves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey trust in the players that were here last year. We didn\u2019t make it as far as we wanted to make it, but as everybody\u2019s seen, we have the talent to. There was a couple of miscues from the end of the year to the playoffs as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chisholm Jr. said the team had great chemistry last season and everyone got along well as players were hanging out on and off the field. He added that when you have that quality of a group, the best thing is to build around them.<\/p>\n

Regarding the re-signing of Bellinger, Chisholm Jr. thought the move was \u201cgreat,\u201d mentioning how close the two players were.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like if it wasn\u2019t for him, we wouldn\u2019t have went as far as we went,\u201d Chisholm Jr. said.<\/p>\n

Chisholm Jr. will be a free agent after the 2026 season and was asked about his play coming into the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just put my trust in God. I just go out there, play my game and enjoy it while I\u2019m here,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, playing in New York was a dream and I got to live it. I have no regrets about what happens in the next year or so, but I\u2019m always going to go out there and play my hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked down the aisle in the auditorium of Community School 55, about three classrooms…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-117984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-the-bronx","13":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","14":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}