options AFTER THEY SIGN their national letter of intent, most top college recruits celebrate with teammates and coaches, or with a girlfriend, or with family. They go to a restaurant and they gorge on meats and on cheeses and on sycophancy.
When Mychal Kendricks signed to play and study at the prestigious Berkeley campus of the University of California, he wanted to celebrate at someplace special, too.
His school.
His grade school.
He looked at Yvonne Thagon, and he said, "Mom? Can we go back to Bullard Talent?"
"Why?" she asked, startled.
"So I can thank them. For all they've done for me."
She was delighted to take him.
In 1995, as the single mother of three mixed-race preschoolers, Thagon entered Kendricks in a lottery to attend one of the magnet schools in racially strained Fresno, Calif.
Bullard Talent, which stresses training in the fine arts, was across town, but its reputation for innovative teaching attracted Thagon. Only 90 children win admission in a blind draw every year.
They sing. They dance. They paint and they play instruments and they act in intricate theatrical productions each year. Bullard Talent produced "Private Practice" star Audra McDonald, also an accomplished soprano, and "Dreamgirls" costar Sharon Leal, a Broadway regular.
Kendricks won admission.
There, he discovered that the world rewards boldness.
"There's two kinds of people in the world: cockroaches and ants," Kendricks said. "When the lights come on, the cockroaches run. The ants? They just keep on working."
For an NFL linebacker Kendricks, 22, is undersized at 5-11 and 239 pounds. He sees every challenge as a new rubber tree plant. He learned patience and determination at an early age.
At Bullard Talent, Kendricks became an excellent dancer, a passionate painter, a natural actor - and a reluctant trumpeter and a lousy singer.
Had he not attended Bullard, he might never have gone to Cal, much less reached the roster of the Philadelphia Eagles, where, as a second-round rookie, he has started the first five games this season at strongside linebacker.
"To be honest, Mychal was not the best student," his mother said.
Like many children, Kendricks learned best by seeing and doing, not just by reading. The faculty at Bullard Talent adjusted without a problem.
By the time Kendricks reached Hoover High, academics were not a problem. The structure at Bullard Talent prepared him for rigors of any type.
Bullard Talent allowed only real shoes, real shirts, and pants that actually fit over boys' behinds; no body piercings; no mohawks, faux-hawks or bro-hawks.
Individual expression is channeled to the arts. From the time they enter kindergarten, students at Bullard Talent participate in plays, even if they are just extra Munchkins in "The Wizard of Oz."
As a seventh-grader, Kendricks took fencing lessons to prepare for battle scenes in "Robin Hood," scenes so realistic that sparks flew from the clashing swords on the night of the production.
They learn to play instruments, to sketch and to draw. They learn dance: Kendricks studied tap, jazz and modern.
They maintain a regular academic load, as well. There is little time for frivolity.
Source : philly[dot]com
