Ken Trimmer is head football coach at Caldwell High School. The biggest problem he’s ever had to face with his players is whether or not they missed a class or test. So, it was a revelation five years ago when he was sitting with several inner city football coaches before the annual North-South all-star high school football game at Rutgers, of which Trimmer is the game director.
“Each of them had horror stories about dealing with gangs, violence, kids being killed,” said Trimmer, who retired this year after 46 years as a teacher but will continue to coach football.”I looked them all in the eye. I asked them ‘What age can we save some of these kids. What if we bring them on college campus and mentoring, show them the possibilities if things done right.’ Their eyes lit up like fried eggs.”
Out of that was borne Leaders for Life, a program that was created by Trimmer and fellow coach Al-Tarik White from Weequahic High School. This year the program brought over 300 seventh-graders from inner city schools in Newark, East Orange, Paterson, Irvington, Orange, Camden and Lindenwold to Kean University.
“For many of the coaches in urban areas gangs and their associated violence present a challenge in keeping their players focused on a successful future,” said Trimmer. “The goal of the Leaders for Life is to show young men from urban schools alternatives to the temptation of gang participation.”
Leaders for Life provides an early introduction to the possibility of college (rather than waiting until senior year) and the rewards that come from establishing personal goals early in life. It also introduces them to college students who lived in communities similar to theirs, but who are now on their way to a brighter future. The get straight talk from Lonnie Allgood, founder of Dreams for Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people, and Capt. Joe Hines of the New Jersey State Police on how they need to handle themselves in their communities, care about their appearance and plan for a successful future. The fact that Allgood and Hines are former NFL players doesn’t hurt their credibility.
When he was trying to get the program off the ground, Trimmer approached Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo Jr., who reached out to Verizon and PSEG, who have helped underwrite the program.
The program started with 125 kids the first year, grew to 300 this year with aspirations for even more kids in the coming years.
“Without the funding from companies like Verizon, we couldn’t do this,” said Trimmer. “All the money goes toward the kids in terms of feeding them, giving them electronic dictionaries, backpacks and T-shirts and watches. Verizon supplied SAT word-building books to help get them thinking and prepared for college.”
The watches are a key symbolic gift. They send a message to the kids of the importance of being on time and knowing they still have time to choose the right path in life.
