Our Values
What Makes our Program Unique
Our Solid Leadership
The Quality of Our Staff and Volunteers
Our Comprehensive Approach
Our Athletic Results
Our Academic Achievements
A Culture of Female Empowerment
Mutual Respect between Adults and Students
An Emphasis on Giving Back
Our solid leadership
Part of the success of our program comes from the vision and hands-on leadership of Peter Westbrook himself, who both conceptualized the organization and runs it on a day-to-day basis. As the Executive Director, he works closely with the development and tutoring staff, all the kids and the coaches, and has also been responsible for the substantial success in fundraising.
The quality of our staff and volunteers
The organization has strong leadership from the top, but this is reinforced by the dynamism of its faculty, who share the same philosophy and have built the Foundation as a collaborative effort. These core members have an in-depth knowledge of the sport, business, and the cultural and social landscape. They have been active since its inception, and they know the organization from the inside out. They include Olympians, world champions, and very successful businesspeople. Having overcome significant barriers to achieve success, they understand the challenges and struggles of the kids they work with, and know how to get them from Point A to Point Z.
Our Comprehensive Approach
During the 40 weekly sessions the Foundation’s students will be challenged physically, mentally, and emotionally. Each session involves rigorous conditioning, games of concentration, drills, one-on-one instruction with Olympic-caliber coaches and competitive fencing with other athletes. These activities are specially designed by the coaching staff to produce an optimal learning experience in a short period of time. By participating in the Foundation’s program, kids not only learn how to be good winners and losers, but also how their actions directly influence the results they achieve. Students learn to evaluate their attitudes about themselves and others, overcome fears, think strategically, and solve problems. Students are also mentored by both established athletes and highly qualified tutors so that they are surrounded every single day by people rooting for their success.
Athletic Results
Since its inception, the organization has seen thousands of inner-city kids come through its doors and has produced collegiate, national, and Olympic-level fencers. Our coaches, all top-notch fencers that are either Olympians or world team members, have designed the training, regimen, and tournament schedules in such a way that produces an extraordinary number of great athletes. Because of our training, we have had unheard of success in INSERT STATS.
Academic Achievements
Our program does not just produce exceptional athletes. We also groom our students to succeed academically. We have designed the structure to support the parents so that the students can be tutored near their homes. Our tutors are highly qualified and include college professors and accomplished academics. Our staff works together closely, so the coaches always know how the students are performing in school. Our program has gained such a reputation for excellence that many prestigious high schools and universities come to us to recruit. In fact, we have virtually become a factory churning out Ivy League students.
Learn more about our academic program
A Culture of Female Empowerment
At the Peter Westbrook Foundation, we promote the concepts of honor and integrity among all of our students. We provide an atmosphere where girls can feel safe and protected, but also give them powerful and successful female role models. The students exiting our program have a solid understanding of healthy gender relationships.
Mutual Respect between Adults and Students
It’s important to us that the kids learn respect for the coaches and staff and realize that their actions have consequences. One way we achieve such good results is to show the kids that we respect them as well and value their feedback. The coaches and staff are open to constructive criticism and welcome discussions with the students on how we can improve our organization.
An Emphasis on Giving Back
By the time that our students make it through our program, they are groomed for academic and athletic success. They have tremendous leadership and public speaking skills. They also have absorbed our cultural ethos of giving back to the community, which makes them likely to come back to support the organization by volunteering their time.
