The Luke Project is a faith‐based organization focused on Leading Urban Kids into Excellence. We accomplish this through education, sports, and a ten‐week summer day camp experience. The Luke Project is strongly committed to improving the lives of a select group of children, in the critical and formative age group of 7 to 14 years old, who are focused on pursuing excellence, discovering God’s plan for their life and becoming productive citizens.
LukeCoach is the newest of four strategic initiatives utilized by The Luke Project to “Lead Urban Kids into Excellence.” LukeCoach engages life coaches who come alongside children to help them reach their full potential in life. Children are facing tremendous challenges today and, in many instances, are doing it alone. It is our hope that a coach who personally connects with a young person at a critical stage in their life will provide a solid foundation for growth, and help them remain focused on the goals they set for themselves.
Vision
Equip every child living in a disadvantaged urban environment to reach their full potential with the help of a life coach.
Mission
Connect urban children with a maturing follower of Christ who serves as a life coach with the goal of empowering each child to fully achieve their spiritual, professional and social potential.
Coaching: A Definition
According to Gary Collins in his book Christian Coaching, he defines coaching as “the art or practice of guiding a person or group from where they are toward the greater competence and fulfillment they desire.” An alternative definition he provides is “helping others to feel inspired and motivated to grow themselves.” So in other words, Mr. Collins believes coaching “helps people expand their vision, build their confidence, and unlock their potential by increasing their skills and taking practical steps toward their goals.” Mr. Collins also utilizes the term “journeying”. This concept involves a relationship in which at least one person is further along in the journey of life and is willing to guide others, often as a trusted role model or, in our case, a LukeCoach.
LukeCoach: The Concept
The basis of the LukeCoach program is to connect a child with an adult who will play the role of life coach in that child’s life. The role as a coach is not to tell the child what to do, but to help the child define their own goals and aspirations and then subsequently develop a strategy to reach them. We believe every child has dreams and ambitions about their future. And this may very often take the form of “what they want to be” ‐ whether that’s a firefighter, doctor, architect, athlete, or any number of professions; however, we don’t want to limit them in their thinking. We believe that each child has unique gifts and talents, and our purpose is to help them identify and leverage those gifts in achieving their dreams and ambitions, whatever those may be.
We understand that along the journey many children, at one time or another, are going to feel as though they are sitting or waiting on the “sidelines” of life. This may be a result of anger caused by emotional hurt, misplaced expectations, or poor choices. It is incumbent upon the LukeCoach to assist their child in transferring expectations to God rather than placing them on others – others who will let them down, create disappointment and who are not capable of meeting their needs. Once a child understands that when they place their expectations on God and wait for Him to heal their hurts and meet their needs (either directly or through others), they no longer have to sit on the sidelines and wait for others to create their opportunities, or “wins”, for them.
This is far from an easy process and that’s why we believe it is vital to highlight and celebrate every small victory along the way. To illustrate this point, let us use the baseball game analogy. The ultimate goal for every baseball team is to win the World Series, but before going to the World Series a team must win the division playoff. And before winning the division, the team must win single games throughout the season. To win a single game the team needs to play well during each inning. It is the LukeCoach’s commitment to help urban children through each “inning” of life ‐ to discover their God‐given passion and help them pursue a course of action focused on short‐term milestones that will enable them to achieve their goals.
LukeCoach: Selection Process
The LukeCoach process begins with the child completing a one‐page story about themselves which includes their unique characteristics and why they want to be a part of LukeCoach. The child is then interviewed by the Director of LukeCoach to determine if they have the necessary attitude and drive to work at the level of commitment required.
We believe it is critical for the parent(s) or guardian to be invested in the life of the child and support the coaching concept. The parent/guardian must complete a program permission slip, attend a 2‐hour training session, and take part in both phone and personal interviews before their child is eligible to receive a coach.
The potential coach is a mature adult who is carefully screened and selected by the Director of LukeCoach. Prior to being matched with a specific child, coaches are required to pass a background check, take part in both phone and personal interviews, complete a 3‐hour training and orientation session, and attend 2‐3 informal, large group outings with the children.
LukeCoach: Strategy for Success
The strategy for LukeCoach is based on two underlying principles:
- To help the child maximize opportunities that enable them to reach their full potential
- To help the child minimize obstacles that prevent them from reaching their full potential
In maximizing those opportunities the child understands they must be willing to pursue the fundamental basics in order to stay on the path to success:
- Appreciate the importance of personal disciplines Make wise choices
- Deepen their faith in God
- Focus on positive relationships
- Participate in extracurricular camps, clinics, seminars and community service opportunities
- Understand the value of hard work – no pain, go gain
- Understand the Law of Association ‐ association leads to assimilation. “…Bad company corrupts good character.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33.In minimizing obstacles, the child understands that they must be willing to avoid certain roadblocks that derail their path to success:
- Bad or unwise choices
- Disrespect of authority
- Lack of discipline
- Associating with the “wrong” crowd
- Making excuses vs. taking responsibility
LukeCoach: Program Overview
LukeCoach focuses on four primary areas in implementing the coaching program with each child:
Identify and discuss life’s goals and objectives (the win)
- Discuss goals and aspirations – both short term and long term
- Help the child develop a personal vision and mission statement
- Visualizing the future – both short term and long term
- Mapping out how to get there from here one step at a time
- Discuss strengths and weaknesses (Phil 4:13)
- Identify heroes
- Encourage the child to focus on strength (the positive)
- Encourage the child not to dwell on the weakness (the negative)
- Help the child to avoid dwelling on the past
- Help the child focus on the future
- Help the child develop a positive self image
- Conflict resolution
- Dealing with internal conflicts
- Dealing with external conflicts
Dealing with the issues of identity – the concept of being beautifully and wonderfully made in Christ
- Who are you really?
- Do not let other people define you
- Embrace and celebrate your uniqueness
- The power of faith
LukeCoach: Program
We believe in the life‐changing power of regular, consistent communications, or “connections” between the child and their coach. True relationship and trust doesn’t happen overnight but is an ongoing process that over time can produce incredible results. We believe the LukeCoach vision and mission will be accomplished through the following specific “connecting” activities:
- Weekly connecting phone calls
- Monthly connecting events
- Yearly connecting activities
o Birthday celebrations
o Special events attendance
o Participation in other Luke Project program activities where the child is involved in: field trips, summer camps, winter camps, spring break camps, LukePrep and LukeSports.
Each LukeCoach will coach a minimum of two and maximum of three children. This guideline enables us to maximize our coaching resources, leverage the group dynamics in creating a culture of two‐way communications, minimize liability issues, and minimize the possibility of an “inactive” coach in the event one of the children drops out of the program.