The AthLife Foundation will provide grants to 71 schools across eight states and Washington, D.C., for the 2025-2026 school year, expanding academic and mentoring support to thousands of middle school and high school student-athletes.
The grants will fund Academic Athletic Coach positions in schools in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and the nation’s capital. The positions help student-athletes succeed academically while building confidence and leadership skills through their connection to sports.
The expansion includes several notable regional developments.
In Lehigh Valley, funding from St. Luke’s University Health Network will extend the program to middle schools, creating what organizers say is the first region in the country where multiple school districts offer connected programming from seventh through 12th grade.
The Lehigh Valley schools listed as recipients are:
Broughal Middle School
East Hills Middle School
Easton Area Middle School
Francis D. Raub Middle School
Harrison-Morton Middle School
Nitschmann Middle School
Northeast Middle School
Pocono Mountain East Jr High School
Pocono Mountain West Jr High School
South Mountain Middle School
Trexler Middle School
Whitehall-Coplay Middle School
High schools in these districts also received funding, as did others in the region, including Phillipsburg High School.
Baltimore City Public Schools will expand grant support to 16 schools, building on the city’s existing Academic Athletic Coach programs.
Schools in New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Port St. Lucie, and Miami-Dade also received grants.
“Student-athletes deserve to believe in themselves as much in the classroom as they do on the court,” said Jewel Clark, a University of Pennsylvania Hall of Famer and the AthLife Foundation’s Academic Athletic Coach of the Year. “Our role goes beyond academics; it’s about instilling confidence, building strong relationships and helping students see themselves as leaders.”
Clark said the real impact shows when students report life-changing results beyond just graduation.
Jim Steeg, the foundation’s board chair and former senior vice president of special events at the NFL, said the expansion demonstrates the program’s effectiveness.
“We have known for more than two decades that this is a much-needed profession in secondary education,” Steeg said. “For any funding partner and the schools that invest in this, the return on that investment and impact can be substantial.”
The AthLife Foundation, established in 2010, is a national nonprofit that helps schools create the Academic Athletic Coach position. The coaches work year-round to develop programming that connects students’ passion for sports with academic achievement and personal development.
Generative AI was used to draft this story, based on information provided by the AthLife Foundation. It was reviewed and edited by lehighvalleylive.com staff.
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