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.

Interested in joining our raffle? Click here!

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)