The Big Business of Holding Back 8th Graders
6/18/202623 min
Holding students back in school once came with a negative connotation. But with college athletes now able to earn endorsement deals, they are preparing younger and younger to be recruited and potentially get paid. WSJ's Harriet Ryan reports on the rise of special middle schools where students hold themselves back on purpose so they can grow, develop and mature before high school. Ryan Knutson hosts.
Further Listening:
- Inside the Black Market for High School Football Players
- NCAA President on a New Era for College Sports
- How Gamblers Are Rigging College Basketball
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[upbeat music] All right, next group. Are you set? Your bars are clear. Good. Remove cross stairs. Legs up. Ready, go. Let's go. Push yourself. Let's go.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:16
This is the sound of finals at a middle school in Southern California.
Speaker 10:19
Let's go, Chance. Ah, go Chamberlain.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:23
And at this school, their finals aren't just on paper, they're also in the gym. They're being tested for their speed, their strength. Here, they're doing pull-ups.
Speaker 10:34
20, win. Let's go, Mason.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:37
[clapping] [upbeat music] This middle school is called The TogetherShip, and as you may have guessed, it isn't a typical school. It's a private school where a major part of the curriculum is athletics. There are classes like weightlifting and speed training, and they also have classes for specific sports, like the football players who work on running routes and throwing mechanics.
Speaker 31:03
Ready, set, go.
Devon Quinn· Guest1:04
Yeah, running routes. Routes on air.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:06
And the soccer players trying to score goals on each other.
Carter Cancelari· Guest1:10
Well done.
Devon Quinn· Guest1:11
Good finish.
Carter Cancelari· Guest1:12
Yeah, let's go, Court.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:13
The basketball students practicing their layups. [shoes squeaking] The school was founded by a man named Devon Quinn.
Devon Quinn· Guest1:26
Each day, they have four classes, two academic, two