Activities Beyond the Classroom (ABC) announced today the addition of Armand Tatum as the District Academic Advisor for Athletics, a newly created role that coordinates and supports on-site Academic Advisors at every Cincinnati Public Schools high school to provide mentorship and guidance to help student athletes achieve both academic and athletic success.
As the District Academic Advisor for Athletics, Tatum is responsible for implementing, and maintaining the details for a new Cincinnati Public Schools program—the Academic & Athletic Accountability Pathway (AAA Pathway). The ultimate goal is to increase student GPA, athlete eligibility, graduation rates, and post-secondary acceptance and entrance rates.
Tatum’s well-rounded experience makes him the perfect candidate for this role. A 1994 graduate of Walnut Hills High School, he was a three-year varsity football player, Queen City All-Star, and was elected to play in the East/West All-Star Game. He holds Business and Biblical Studies degrees from Indiana Wesleyan University, and has worked in CPS in many roles, including five years as an Instructional Assistant and a long-term substitute teacher, and three years as an Academic Advisor for Student Athletes at Walnut Hills High School. He has also been the Varsity Head Coach for the Western Hills Football Program for three years.
“The AAA Pathway program and Armand’s role are the result of a collaboration between ABC and CPS,” said Brian Leshner, Executive Director of Activities Beyond the Classroom. “We have been working with Josh Hardin, CPS Athletics Manager, to figure out ways to help student athletes maintain academic eligibility to both play their sports and also to secure scholarships for post-secondary education. Armand’s background as an athlete and as the Academic Advisor at Walnut give him the experience he needs to mentor and guide student athletes to be successful both in and out of their sports.”
“It is an honor and a privilege to serve our future leaders in this capacity,” said Tatum. “I am thankful to Joshua Hardin for recognizing the need to develop the AAA Pathway program and for bringing it from an idea to reality, and to Brian Leshner for the opportunity to lead the charge. I look forward to helping our student athletes obtain the tools and skills needed to take their athletic and academic careers to the next level.”
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Activities Beyond the Classroom is a nonprofit that creates and manages more than 200 athletic and cultural extracurricular programs and activities, ranging from foreign languages to team sports, for more than 15,000 Cincinnati Public Schools students every year. ABC has a strong and longstanding partnership with Cincinnati Public Schools that includes management of high school athletics throughout much of the district.
