Academic Support Network

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. --- Henry Ford (inventor of the Model-T Ford)

Academic Excellence | Links | News Stories

General Overview

The Jordan football program prides itself on athletic AND academic excellence. They truly go hand in hand. Starting in 2006, the Falcon JV football program will institute a mandatory study hall prior to every practice session. This will give our athletes a chance to get a solid start on homework and to meet with their teachers for tutoring. All JV players will also be on a weekly point sheet/ progress report with all of their teachers. Any athlete failing to get the necessary signatures from their teachers will lose playing time and face other penalties in practice. Academic excellence is vital to the future success of our young men as varsity athletes and as productive members of the adult world.

As a part of its commitment to academic excellence, the JHS football staff works in the following three areas to promote academic success for our athletes.

Communication

The football team's Academic Advisors are in constant communication with faculty, parents, student-athletes, guidance, and administration in order to monitor the academic progress of athletes. Such a proactive approach allows us to address an issue before it becomes problematic for a given athlete and thus provide the appropriate sort of assistance to him. As a part of this strand, the Academic Advisors also collect current GPA's, and for those athletes bound to play football in college, standardized test scores. These scores are kept in a database that provides ease of access for staff, college guidance officers, and recruiters.

Tutoring

If an athlete needs academic assistance, then the Academic Advisors will assist that athlete by working with his classroom teacher to develop a program appropriate for the athlete. On occasion the Advisor may assign an athlete to a tutor; currently the football staff works in conjunction with the new JHS Freshman Academy by using their student tutors. These highly successful and motivated students work with our athletes on a variety of issues; tutors may speak to a football player about effective note-taking or managing time effectively in addition to addressing problems with course content.

Rewards

During the 2003 campaign, the football staff developed a helmet decal reward system that recognizes excellence in the classroom. Any football player who meets any of the requirements outlined will earn one helmet decal for each criterion met; in addition, the decals are cumulative over a player's career at JHS. As such, during his senior year he could start the season with over a dozen helmet decals for academic excellence.

In short, we recognize that in additition to developing the physical skills of our athletes, we have a strong obligation to help develop the intellects and characters of our athletes.

Falcon Football Academic Advisor
Coach Stuart Albright, English Department (2005/2006 DPS Teacher of the Year)

Falcon Academic Excellence

Numerous Advanced Placement (AP) Courses Offered
AP Biology, Physics II, Chemistry II, Environmental Science
AP English III, English IV, Latin Literature
AP Statistics, Calculus AB, Calculus BC
AP U.S. History, European History, Government
AP Psychology
AP French, Spanish
AP Studio Art and Computer Science

Wide Variety of Honors Courses Offered
Mean SAT Scores Higher than NC Average (2004-2005)
Mean SAT Scores Higher than US Average (2004-2005)
13 National Merit and NASP Recipients (2005)
16 National Merit and NASP Finalists (2005)
19 National Merit and NASP Commended Students (2005)
9 National Merit and NASP Semifinalists (2005)

Important Testing Dates (SAT, ACT, etc. - this is updated as time allows, do not use as your only source of information on this topic)

Falcon Football Tutoring Program

Falcon Football Players are Published, Again!!

May 2007. McKinnon Press has announced the upcoming release of Wake-up Call, an anthology of poetry and prose featuring Tramon Farrington and CJ Starkey, two of our Falcon football players. Congratulations to both of these intelligent young athletes, further proving that the success of the Falcon Football program extends far beyond the gridiron. Check out www.mckinnonpress.com for more details.

If you have news associated with the Falcon Football program or questions, please email gofalcons.jordan@gmail.com (updated 06/01/2007)

 

Football Players Inducted into NHS

May 2007. Congratulations to a few of our Falcon Football Players for being inducted into the Jordan HS chapter of the National Honor Society. Kevin Selig, Andrew Reid and John Anton received the recognition of officially being inducted in the NHS. This society is a select group that honors those individuals that excel in the classroom as well as through other extra-curricular endeavors. Throughout the school year the NHS focuses on various service projects for both their local school as well as the surrounding area.

If you have news associated with the Falcon Football program or questions, please email gofalcons.jordan@gmail.com (updated 06/01/2007)

Congratulations to Falcon Football Junior David Albert

April 20th, 2007. Congratulations to current junior David Albert for winning the SkillsUSA Graphic Communications Contest at the North Carolina State Conference. (updated 4/20/2007)

Jordan Football Players Become Published Authors

December 2006. Several of our outstanding varsity football players have stories included in two recent anthologies produced by McKinnon Press. Seniors Matt Little and Brandon Roberts and junior Josh Haas each have stories in Breaking the Silence, while seniors Armen Melikian and Anthony Leathers have been included in the anthology Overflow: Just the Beginning of Many Outbursts. Congratulations to these fine young men, who prove that success at Jordan extends beyond the gridiron. Copies of both of these books can purchased online at www.mckinnonpress.com.

Falcon Football Players Become Published Authors

February 2006. Congratulations are in order to five Falcon football players for being included in the newly released book, Unlocking Room 413, published by McKinnon Press. Seniors Andrew Blaylock, Josh Gornto, Siddiq Haynes, and Lance Sanders, and sophomore Walter Johns each contributed works ranging from plays to short stories to poetry for the anthology. Copies of Unlocking Room 413 can be purchased online at http://www.lulu.com/content/188958 or through www.mckinnonpress.com. These talented young men prove that Jordan Falcon success is not limited to the gridiron. (updated 2/17/2006)

Jordan H.S. Recognized as a School of Progress for Fourth Straight Year...

August, 2005. The final year marks for the North Carolina ABC's for Public Education are out and for the fourth straight year Jordan High School is listed as a School of Progress.

Read more about how the faculty, administration and coaching staff at Jordan H.S. are working to help our student-athletes grow both on the field of play and in the classroom. Durham Herald-Sun Article or Academcic Support Page. (updated 08/05/2005)