History
May 2008 - February 2010
Background
Level The Field (“LTF”) was founded by Erica Woda, a New York City public school teacher and Columbia University graduate who is passionate about improving the lives of children. Erica first conceived the idea of Level The Field in May 2008 after seeing some children playing an unorganized game of soccer near a public school in Manhattan. After reflecting upon the game and her experiences teaching in the Bronx, she became determined to create an educational sports mentoring program to serve children in low-income urban communities.
Erica spent the summer and fall of 2008 building the foundation for Level The Field and trying to garner as much support for the fledging program as possible. Using her relationships with the members of the Columbia University Athletic Department, Erica prompted Columbia to agree to be Level The Field's first partner university on July 24, 2008.
Erica spent much of the next year developing the pilot program which was designed to serve middle school students in Washington Heights, with the help of high-achieving collegiate athletes acting as mentors. Columbia, having already agreed to become the Level The Field's first partner university, enlisted athletes from three sports to work with middle school children.
In the summer of 2009, The Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School ("WHEELS"), located in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan and only blocks from Columbia's athletic complex—Baker Field—agreed to become Level The Field's first partner middle school.
Launch of the Pilot Program
On October 29, 2009, twenty-five Columbia Athletes traveled 50 blocks from Columbia's Morningside Heights Campus to WHEELS, to introduce themselves, their love for sports and share their experiences on and off the field with 87 middle school students. The athletes and Level The Field will continue to work with the same 87 middle school students through May 2010.
Since then, approximately thirty Columbia University student-athletes have entered the classroom to work and help our students develop team-building and learning skills that can be applied in both the classroom and on the athletic field.
In addition to meeting our athletes in a classroom environment, our students attend collegiate games to observe the communication, sportsmanship, teamwork, leadership, focus and dedication it takes to be an athlete at the collegiate level.
We also run sports clinics hosted by the Columbia University athletes so that the middle school students have the opportunity to practice the skills they have learned in the classroom and during collegiate games in a team environment. Through the sports clinics they are able to watch and develop the valuable skills that they have learned from our athletes.
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