YPN CityConnexx Director Hits the Front Page
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Shelley Wallen
Office: 1.800.334.KIDS
Email: Shelley Wallen
YPN CityConnexx Director Hits the Front Page
Denver, CO – January 27, 2008 - Denver Street School playing it straight! Basketball team provides motivation to stay in school and out of trouble.
Below is part of a front page article about our own Jim Galanaugh, YPN CityConnexx Director, also the basketball coach for the Denver Street School, a YPN ministry partner. We’re proud of you Jim for all you do For Him and Them.
By Chris Dempsey
The Denver Post
The basketball court sits in a church on West Alameda, tucked behind an Olive Garden restaurant. Inside, balls hit the floor, not in any rhythmic way, just the scattered sound of a half-dozen basketballs make when the dribblers are messing around practicing their moves.
"All right, everybody in!" The sound comes from a middle-aged man in a powder blue Nuggets sweatshirt and wearing a baseball cap. He has a kind face, soft and trustworthy, yet it contains just enough rough edges to let you know life wasn’t always this happy and rewarding. He is the basketball coach. But more important, he is the life coach. The seven high school kids gathered in a huddle around him know him as Pastor Jim.
Five players are missing on this day, but that’s not unusual. Pastor Jim Galanaugh has many challenges at the Denver Street School, and, at times, one of those is getting everyone to basketball practice. But that is among the least of the issues at a school where, for these students, basketball is a big part of the motivation to stay in school and get their life in order. "I know every day is a challenge to get up and not do drugs and get to school and not get involved in the fights and the gangs," Galanaugh said.
Basketball practice is a rag-tag event. It lasts about an hour. There are shooting drills on the move, dribbling drills and some sprints. And always a game or two of "knockout." It's a team favorite, and helps keep spirits and interest high. It isn't complicated, but then that's the point. These boys already have enough complexities in their lives.
These are second-chance kids, or, in some cases, third- or fourth- chance kids. For all of them, the Denver Street School represents a chance to turn their lives around. They come from all walks of life, from all areas of the city and suburbs and a few from out of state. None has been able to stick in public schools. Some simply didn't go. Most have lived in poverty. Some have dabbled in theft, gangs and drugs.
Laquavis Webb was 13 when he watched a person get shot twice in a car-theft attempt.
"I'm thankful every day I'm alive," said Webb, a 17-year-old senior. "You don't know what can happen at any time. You can get shot just by being in the wrong place. It's dangerous out here."
For the full story and pictures go to www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8089069
