| Andre Agassi: Local
Students Get Grand Slam from Tennis Champion
The Andre Agassi Charitable
Foundation and the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce
(LAJCC) announced a partnership last December with
the California Academy of Mathematics and Sciences
(CAMS) and the Home Depot Center (HDC), both of which
are located on the CSUDH campus. The partnership will
collaborate on a tennis-and-scholastics program for
at-risk youth, beginning in spring 2006.
 “Agassi’s Safe Passage All-Stars” will
provide local student athletes with advanced tennis
instruction to go with their advanced educational curriculum
so that they can reach greater levels of achievement
in sports and scholastics.
“Agassi’s Safe Passage
All-Stars will have an important impact on the lives
of each student who participates, whether or not the
participant ever wins a tournament or even competes
at the collegiate level,” says Timothy Leiweke,
president and chief executive officer of Anschutz Entertainment
Group (AEG), which owns and operates HDC. “The
skills and life lessons they take with them will truly
make them winners and better prepare them to achieve
whatever goals they set for themselves in the future.”
CAMS students provide the Safe Passage children with
math tutoring, homework assistance, support in developing
study skills, and daily coaching and mentoring prior
to tennis workouts. The tutors will work with the students
in the areas of mathematics, language arts, and test
taking. As students progress into the 10th and 11th
grades, the program will provide them with college
readiness counseling and application assistance.
“It's always been our hope that our programs
would be replicated in other communities," says
Agassi, the eight-time Grand Slam singles champion
who founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation
in 1994 to provide recreational and educational opportunities
for at-risk schoolchildren in southern Nevada. “Providing
children with opportunities to develop new skills and
succeed academically is one of the most powerful ways
to create brighter futures. Without the educational
component, it’s not worth a whole lot.”
- Joanie Harmon
Photos above: Top, Andre Agassi, Kathleen
Clark, principal, California Academy of Mathematics
and Sciences, and Robert Yamamoto, executive director
and CEO, Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce.
In story: Provost Allen
Mori, CSUDH
and Agassi at the HDC Tennis Stadium.
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