Inspiring, Inclusive, Innovative

[Sponsored Article]

Stamford American School’s forward thinking Global Mentor Programme has welcomed a number of inspirational industry and thought leaders since arriving on the Hong Kong education scene. Having opened their doors in September 2017, they have keenly applied the Stamford spirit of creating a caring community within the school and linking up with the neighbouring public by organising open events as part of the school’s ethos. They will continue to host a variety of seminars, community events, as well as opening their swimming pool to the public for free community swim sessions in the near future.

On March 3, Stamford welcomed their latest Global Mentor, James Scott, in a first large-scale event to the community promoting the importance of sports. James is currently coach of the Shanghai Sharks basketball team and treated those at the event to two free high intensity basketball clinics.

Excited students and happy families participated in the successful event held at Stamford’s brand new athletics hall. In addition to the basketball clinics they enjoyed a variety of other activities which reflect the 19 co-curricular activities that Stamford offers its students, including fencing, coding, innovation workshops and arts and crafts, among others.
 
The school invited Scott with the help of MGI Entertainment to become a Global Mentor due to the overwhelming popularity of basketball with students. Basketball is one of the most favoured co-curricular activities at Stamford and while sport brings many benefits in terms of healthy living, it also builds a strong sense of teamwork among other positive attributes.  More than popularity of the sport, Stamford’s invitation to Scott was also because of his work ethic and passion. “We know that to be a professional athlete it requires a lot of discipline and hard work. We were impressed with James’ dedication and sacrifice to achieve his dream,” Dietz noted, Head of School at Stamford.

To help achieve his current success, Scott made sacrifices such as quitting his job, moving back in with his grandmother and cleaning a gym for free for two years, just for the opportunity to work with Anthony Falstone and train Yao Ming. This eventually led him to a job with the Houston Rockets first and later, in 2009, upon Yao Ming’s invitation his position with the Shanghai Sharks.

He was excited to join as one of Stamford’s Global Mentors because the program provides children with education outside the classroom and exposure to life stories and experiences by inspirational people of very different backgrounds.