It all started with one man and an idea.
Brandon Currie is from Milwaukee and has played tennis most of his life, even professionally.
He went back to school to get his Masters's Degree and then became a guidance counselor. He also received his PhD in Urban Education and Psychology.
"We can't change the outlook of the negative and the challenges associated with poverty or mental health or incarcerations. Those things have dismantled families and communities," Currie said. "What we can do is say OK, let's really create positive experiences for these kids to have to counteract the challenges that they're facing."
Currie wanted to create programs inside Milwaukee schools that combined both his love for education and sports. Now, with over 30 partners, helping over 7,000 kids, he is doing just that.
Currie is the CEO of STRYV365, a non-profit organization that works to build confidence in children, helping to challenge them to make better decisions and build life skills.
The word "TRY" is in the center of the organization's name. Its logo shows a mountain valley, giving meaning to its idea of striving to become better every day, no matter what.
"I wanted to put curriculum and programming together that would create a sense of hope but also to provide those techniques they could use when they're out in the community and at home and at school," Currie said.
You can truly think of it like any sport. You have coaches and players. In this case, the coaches are the adults and the players are the students. And those coaches work inside of local schools as a resource to students.
"Kids don't really have anybody to talk to because they're scared of judgment because of the other kids around them," Milwaukee Academy of Science eighth-grade student Lariah Winston said. "So, having an adult in your life that actually can see what you're going through because they have been there before is like having extra help."
Winston has been a part of STRYV for at least two years now.
She spends a lot of time with coach J.P. Kiatoukaysy.
Kiatoukaysy has been with STRYV since it started five years ago. He is one of 12 STRYV coaches. Kiatoukaysy spends every day at Milwaukee Academy of Science, helping with teachers' and students' needs.
There is something called STRYV Time. The time was created for mentoring and activities that incorporate sports and performing arts during students' gym class.
"Every day when I worked with these students I feel a sense of accomplishment like I've impacted their lives," he said.
Just like Currie, Kiatoukaysy also played tennis. Growing up in Milwaukee, he can relate to many of his students.
"A lot of students in Milwaukee only know football and basketball. I love to incorporate, what if you learn lacrosse? You might like tennis, you might like volleyball. You might like swim. You never know until you're exposed to it."
Kiatoukaysy said sports was an outlet for him to express himself. While working inside of the school, he has noticed a serious need for students to have outlets and safe spaces.
"Sometimes they're often isolated by themselves and not able to express themselves to parents, peers or friends," he said. "I don't want to make them think I'm an educator or teacher where we're talking about school. If I could have my students be like, man, what would coach JP do? Just have them think about that and just get them out of a tough situation."
We visited Milwaukee Academy of Science on a weekday morning to watch him in action. One day, Kiatoukaysy and two other coaches led a basketball activity in the school's gym.
"You can't make good decisions if you're not relaxed, right?," one of the coaches said to the students in the gym. "That's like one of the first steps in the decision-making process.
This day, the was a game that focused on staying calm, working as a team, and critical thinking.
We also captured the work being done in the classroom.
"If you miss your shots, you gotta give that person you drew, a compliment," Kiatoukaysy said to students sitting at their desks. The group played a thinking game on their computers before incorporating basketball.
"He's amazing. He has humor, Winston said. "He connects with the kids very well. It's not like a mean teacher, it's more of one of the coaches you can come to about all of your problems. It can be outside of school and inside of school."
"He can really adapt to what you're saying and try to agree with you. He's not going to agree with everything but he's a very nice person to get along with," eighth grader Taris Eason said.
This is what Currie wanted. Students to be able to feel comfortable with coaches. It's truly a way to be inside of school and essentially disconnected from your typical sit-down classwork. But more so, hands-on, life skills that will hopefully stick with you for years to come.
Both Currie and Kiatoukaysy know what it's like to have coaches throughout their lives and this has been a joy to become one themselves.
"A lot of people would say, you play what?," Currie said, describing people's reaction to his love for tennis. "Why are you playing that?"
Currie didn't see many people of color playing tennis. He was often one of the few in the room.
"It was a motivator for me to get that much better and want to compete and highlight that regardless of how you look, where you're from. You're capable of doing anything."
That's what it's about. Whether students are fans of sports or not, it's about life skills and life lessons, hoping they become the players they know they can be with the help of coaches who only want to see them win.
STRYV works with the education department to make sure the curriculum incorporates physical and emotional learning. They're all hoping the organization can be a resource in every school across the state.
And one way to do that is through fundraisers.
On Monday, May 20, STRYV will host a golf outing at the North Shore Country Club in Mequon.
For more information, click here.
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