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Clearwater lawyers step up to the plate to help at-risk boys Clearwater lawyers step up to the plate to help at-risk boys Associate Editor Truth be known, the folks at Kings Highway Elementary in Clearwater were skeptical when lawyer Leonard Milcowitz first talked up big plans for a program for at-risk boys at a school where more than half of the students live in poverty. What gave his after-school program pizzazz, the lawyer said in his sales pitch, was the lure of baseball taught by former pro players. As Arthurene Williams, behavior specialist at the school, put it: “I’m listening to this lawyer lay all this out, and I’m looking at him and thinking about what my mom always said, ‘If it’s too good to be true, it usually is.’” But she kept listening, as Milcowitz told her all about the nonprofit corporation called Extra Innings Youth Foundation, Inc., he’d created with his law partner, Ed Lyons. They promised to buy state-of-the-art computers and multicultural textbooks, deliver snacks, hire certified teachers to provide one-on-one tutoring to help the boys with homework after school five days a week. They would purchase personalized equipment bags bulging with hat, uniform, glove, and shoes for each boy who earned the honor to play ball on the Extra Innings team. They’d finance field trips to places the boys had never been before, like the Nutcracker Ballet at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Teacher StePhan Lane recalled: “My honest impression when Mrs. Williams first told me how these lawyers would buy six lap-top computers to use in the classroom, I’m thinking, ‘Wow! This would be great!’ But in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, I’ll get a memo tomorrow that we can’t have this program and we’ll never hear from them again.” The skeptics are now true believers. The lawyers have made good on their promises and beyond. Now in its second year, the Extra Innings program graduated 14 boys last year, now serves 30 boys, and has expanded to Sandy Lane Elementary in Pinellas County, too. When the kids needed their own baseball field and their own portable classroom at Kings Highway Elementary, the law partners forked over the bucks for that, too. The whole idea, the lawyers explained, is to help prevent drop-outs by igniting young boys’ can-do spirit so they’ll stay in school until high school graduation day and go on to do something positive with their lives. “Ed and I truly care about the well-being of children in the world. We can’t feed everyone. But we are committed to take care of the children in our community that we live in,” Milcowitz said. “It is our belief that it is the responsibility of all of us who are able to do well in our professional lives to take the time to give back to the community.” Extra Innings affords the boys a safe place to go every day after school, where they receive tutorial and remedial education services from real teachers. Besides the reward of getting their homework done and watching their grades soar, there’s the bonus of the thrill of the crack of the bat and sliding into home, catching a fly ball in the palm of a well-worn leather glove, getting advice from positive male role models, and learning the teamwork it takes to win a game. Principal Ken O’Bryant admitted: “Most of us have concern when someone promises to give you something for free. Free for how long and what do you want from us? But Len and his partner are truly selfless. They ask for little in return except for cooperation.” The cooperation from the school the lawyers needed was a place for their program and some teachers enthusiastic to participate. And Williams responded: “I’ll get them for you.” What her school got in return, she said, is a “godsend” in positive changes for third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade boys. Many have no positive men in their lives, many go home after school to empty houses because their single mom works two jobs to make ends meet. Of last year’s 14 successful participants, eight made the honor roll for the first time. “The program has been a very positive influence in helping our children, who are 60 percent at or below the poverty level,” O’Bryant said. “Our children need a positive role model, and this has been a real motivator.” Just ask Williams, whose job it is to handle the kids with behavior problems. “I would see this one little boy every day in my office,” Williams said. “He was disrespectful, defiant, and showed a total lack of cooperation. I got his parents involved and talked with them. We put him on different types of contracts, and we still needed something more. We put him in the Extra Innings program, and we saw a 360-degree turnaround with his behavior and motivation. He was like a diamond in the rough that now shines.” Another boy in Extra Innings, Williams said, once had no self-confidence, made failing grades, and rarely smiled. “This little boy, for the first time in his life, made the honor roll,” Williams said. “For the first time, he would come and give me hugs. It was almost like the lightbulb came on. The Extra Innings was the only difference in his life that had occurred. It was proving to the boys: ‘You are somebody, you can be somebody. We’re here to help you.’” Lane, the teacher, said he accompanied the Extra Innings boys on a field trip to see a minor league baseball team, the Dunedin Blue Jays, play. The boys got a chance to go on the field and hang out with the pro players, and it was as big of a deal as going to meet the Atlanta Braves at the World Series. “I personally heard a boy say, ‘This is one of the best times I’ve had in my life.’ That’s something I will always keep in my heart,” Lane said. Lane believes the generosity from Milcowitz and Lyons is a gift from their hearts — not just a tax write-off for rich lawyers. “I was born in this community,” Lane said. “This is something this community needs. We now have a baseball field. And one evening, I saw people from the community out there playing ball. I looked for a while at them playing on that new field, and that touched me. This program is good for our school, but it’s also good for our community. If they did this for accolades or money, they got that when they started it last year. But they keep on giving. They act more excited about the program than me, and that’s hard, because I’m so excited. Their hearts are really in the program.” And Williams agrees. “These two are wonderful,” Williams said. “When the kids go on field trips, they’re usually there. They’ll come out to the field. I really feel this is very close to their hearts.. . . What’s really more impressive than anything is Len’s personal involvement. Rather than just signing a check, he’s really there. When you find someone as committed as he is, then you are even more committed.” The program was born from a series of simple conversations that became an idea put into action. Milcowitz, 54, plays second base for a men’s baseball league and used to attend the New York Yankees Fantasy Baseball Camp. That’s where he met Roy Silver, a former pro baseball player and manager in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system. “We became friends and one day we’re talking about things,” Milcowitz recalled. “We both had a very keen interest in developing a program to help inner-city children stay in school and at least have an opportunity to obtain an education. That was the general scope. It became more specific, because we both realized that one of the tools we could use to our advantage was baseball.” Meanwhile, Williams, the elementary school behavior specialist, had met Silver at a breakfast. She didn’t know him, but knew he was a baseball player, introduced herself, and invited him to come mentor the children at her school. So when Extra Innings went scouting for a school, Kings Highway Elementary was at the top of the list, because it met the criteria as an inner-city school with boys at risk of becoming high school drop-outs. Silver told Williams he knew a lawyer who had an idea he wanted to tell her about. Milcowitz was the talker, and his partner, Lyons, agreed to sign the checks. Lyons, 41, used to be a boxer in college, but never played baseball. “I like baseball, but I’m a bit of a sports illiterate,” he said with a laugh. And Milcowitz added: “I think of Eddie as a little George Steinbrenner. We drive out and watch our children play baseball.” He says “our children” with a father’s pride, and tells of taking seven of the top students in Extra Innings to a big New York Yankees luncheon, and the boys were all dressed in their baseball uniforms. “I want to tell you, we had people take notice of our boys. They wanted to know who these well-behaved boys were. They were just incredible,” Milcowitz bragged. “I was very proud.” As Lyons said, by giving the boys something positive to do with their time after school, “their chance of getting in trouble decreases 80 percent. Our initial thought is if we can help get the kids up to high school and not get hijacked by their environment along the way, maybe it will give them enough strength and support to go on and lead productive lives. At high school, they can volunteer at the program and help the younger kids in a mentoring way.” As the successes of Extra Innings grow, Milcowitz and Lyons have expanded their vision to the middle school, because, as Milcowitz said: “We can’t abandon the boys in the fifth grade.” One day, they even hope to build their own school. In the meantime, boys at two inner-city elementary schools in Pinellas County are proud to walk down the hallways with their baseball equipment bags bearing the Extra Innings logo and personalized with their own names. And two lawyers with a vision to help kids recently got all the thanks they needed when a mother spotted Milcowitz in the crowd at a community event and rushed over to ask: “Aren’t you the guy who runs the Extra Innings program? I just want to thank you for giving me my son back.” For more information about the Extra Innings Youth Foundation, contact Sharon Dean, director of program development, 29605 U.S. Highway 19 North, Suite 180, Clearwater 33761, or call (727) 781-7200. November 1, 2001 Jan Pudlow Associate Editor Regular News read more