FIGS Initiative began with a simple sports question in Kingwood: what would happen if more students were invited into the same practice space? Kayli Heine, a 2026 West Fork High School graduate who played varsity volleyball and competed in track … Read the rest
HISD Is Giving Away Its $10M–$19M-A-Year Curriculum to Other Texas Districts
Houston Independent School District has spent between $10 million and $19 million a year developing its own curriculum since 2023. Now, parts of that investment are being shared with other school districts for free, creating a new chapter in one … Read the rest
Soccer IN School Success Stories in Alexandria
Soccer IN School gave Alexandria a clear impact story during the 2025-2026 school year: soccer moved directly into the school day, reached every second-grade student in Alexandria City Public Schools, and connected physical education with youth development. The program reached … Read the rest
Youth Sports Access and Family Income Gaps
Youth sports access is one of the clearest ways a community shows whether every child gets a fair chance to belong on a team. The latest national data show both the promise and the gap: in 2023–2024, 56.7% of U.S. … Read the rest
New youth sports access partnerships in Indy
youth sports access in Indianapolis gained new attention after a July 2026 partnership brought federal agencies, the NFL, and local organizations together around a shared idea: sport can be a doorway to school support, healthy habits, and workforce pathways. The … Read the rest
Texas Schools Still Paddle Thousands of Students Despite National Shift Away From Corporal Punishment
Texas remains one of the states where schools can legally use corporal punishment, and new reporting shows the practice continues to affect thousands of students. An analysis of federal education data found that Texas recorded 11,360 instances of corporal punishment … Read the rest
Huntsville Pickleball Youth Gains Momentum
Huntsville Pickleball Youth is becoming a hopeful local sports story because the city’s growth in pickleball is tied to real access: public courts, indoor programming, tournament activity, and family-friendly recreation spaces. The available public reports track citywide participation rather than … Read the rest
Coach Support Builds Youth Teams That Belong
Coach Support is bigger than practice plans, drills, and the final score. In youth sports, the adult on the sideline often becomes a steady voice who helps young athletes learn how to listen, recover from mistakes, respect teammates, and keep … Read the rest
Texas Schools Have Referred More Than 47,000 Children to Juvenile Justice Since 2014
Texas schools have referred children ages 10 to 13 into the juvenile justice system more than 47,000 times since the 2014-15 school year, according to a new analysis of Texas Juvenile Justice Department data by the New York Times and … Read the rest
Peer Leaders: Empowering Youth as Mentors and Leaders
Today, many organizations see that old ways of teaching don’t work well for young people. So, they’re turning to peer mentorship to help. This new approach makes learning more active and focused on young people.
Young people are now part … Read the rest