Lakers Mentoring Road Trip
BOSS student athlete Jakob Brannon, a 7th grade student-athlete (soccer/track) at Newcomb Academy in Long Beach and BOSS founder Everett Glenn were among the 4 mentoring pairs selected by the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation as winners of the 4th Annual Mentoring.
The contest was open to all mentoring pairs registered with selected Los Angeles County mentoring organizations.
The contest had two components: an essay of 350 words or less, written by the student/mentee about their experience with mentoring; and a 2-minute video created by the mentoring pair which introduces themselves and explains what is special about their mentoring relationship.
We were joined on the trip by Lakers’ Youth Foundation Executive Director Kiesha Nix, Lakers’ Community Relations Manager John Olivero, Community Relations Coordinator Alison Darnell, and Matt Evans, Video Production Manager, Lakers Game Entertainment.
With the win, which follows our November 2017 Lakers’ YOU Grant award, support of the year-round, multi-year BOSS “process” from among Southern CA sports teams (including the Los Angeles Clippers, Dodgers, Lakers and Rams) continues to grow.
First stop of the road trip, after checking into the Hilton Embassy Suites hotel on Saturday evening, was Max Lager’s wood-fired grill and brewery. After a hearty meal enjoyed by all, we retreated to the hotel to prepare for a full day of experiences on Sunday.
We started the day on Sunday with a visit to the Georgia AquariumCivil and Human Rights. After an amazing experience at the aquarium, which included a once in a lifetime experience… the AT&T Dolphin Celebration…we enjoyed lunch at Twin Smokers BBG.
We ended the day with an emotional visit to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
Monday was no less exciting and educational.
We started the day with a visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr.
National Historic Site. The MLK site includes Ebenezer Baptist Church, the birth home of Martin Luther King, Jr., and a center for civil and human rights.
The emotional experience included listening to sermons preached by Martin Luther King from the pews of the church. We then made our way to the World of Coca-Cola for a look back on the nearly 125-year history of the company including the Loft, home to a mix of nearly 200 historical and international artifacts that represent more than 125 years of Coca-Cola memories; the Coca-Cola theatre; the Vault, where the legendary secret formula for Coca- Cola is secured; Bottle Works, for a behind-the- scenes look at the bottling process; and the Tasting Room, where we tasted more than 100 international and domestic beverages made by The Coca-Cola company.
The exciting 4-day/3-night adventure was capped off by supporting the home team Lakers as they rolled to a 123-104 road win versus the Atlanta Hawks! The pre-game experience included the Lakers’ shoot- a-round, where we were able to meet the Lakers’ broadcast team of Stu Lantz and Bill McDonald as well as Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma.
Stay tuned for a video produced by Matt that will capture the excitement of an amazing, life changing experience the Lakers organization provided that acknowledges (and will hopefully encourage others to acknowledge) the impact and value that mentoring has on young people.
Everett Glenn
Pioneering attorney and community advocate for excellence.