American Baseball Foundation

Tom Clark is famously quoted as saying, "I'm convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile." Through a partnership with David Osinski and Christopher Allen of the American Baseball Foundation, on Thursdays, students at The Bessemer Classical School get to experience the thrill of "America's Pass-Time" and work on strengthening their reading comprehension skills.

The American Baseball Foundation utilizes elements of the Better Basics program and books about notable baseball players like Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente to teach students about historic struggle for civil rights, strength of character as well as great baseball players. After that, it's out to the field for an afternoon spent learning how to hit, catch and thrown and then a game of baseball.

Birmingham Music Opportunity Program

A team of neuroscientists led by Dr. Laurel Trainor, a professor of psychology, neuroscience and behavior at McMaster University have demonstrated that learning to play an instrument early in life usually translates that into accelerated brain development, particularly in mathematics, and that children can actually increase IQ scores by learning to play an instrument.

So, TBCS has partnered with the Birmingham Music Opportunity Program to provide string instrument lessons to TBCS students every Thursday afternoon. Learning to play a violin, viola and/or cello adds depth to our existing Music Appreciation Program, which teaches students about the music, accomplishment lives and faith of great composers.

We are extremely grateful to The American Baseball Foundation and Birmingham Music Opportunity for their great friendship to the students at TBCS.