ZanziBall 2020

About the ZanziBall

The ZanziBall is a team fundraising campaign, gala and rackets tournament that supports critical education and college preparation programming for under-served students enrolled in the Mission Squash Scholarship program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to safely hold the in-person portion of this year's fundraiser, but we still need your help! 

Since 2015, the ZanziBall has raised over $350,000 in support of socio-economically disadvantaged students. This year, we need your assistance to hit our goal of $100,000! Our programming is now more important than ever as we support scholars through continued virtual learning, the transition back to in-person schooling, physical and emotional wellness, and the college application process.

About Mission Squash

Mission Squash was founded in 2015 to empower students from Houston's under served communities to unlock & maximize their potential through intensive, year-round academic, wellness and enrichment programs. 

In the Houston Independent School District, over 75% of students are economically disadvantaged. Within this population, students are 7x more likely to drop out of high school. For those that do graduate, less than 30% will go on to college. Our program helps to close the achievement gap amongst low-income students by focusing on three core areas of development - increasing access to college, character development, and improving wellness. 

To support our scholars through the pandemic we have re-configured our comprehensive after-school program which targets our three cornerstones. Currently, our weekly programming for all scholars includes: 

• A minimum of 3 hours of academic intervention and tutoring
• A minimum of 3 hours of squash training and physical fitness classes
• Opportunities for additional, 1-1 virtual tutoring for all scholars
• 1-1 college advising sessions for 12th grade scholars 

Our Results: 

• Scholars see an average of 4 years of reading growth and 2 years of math growth each year 
• 28% fewer school absences than comparable HISD peers
• 60% of scholars had an 80% or higher in all classes in the first quarter (2020-21)
• 100% of scholars receiving 1-1 tutoring for a specific class passed in the first quarter (2020-21)