(NECN: Latoyia Edwards) - Keep a close eye on Rhondell Teesdale, because this junior at Boston’s John D. O'Bryant High School is going places.
Not only is Rhondell a track star, this three-sport athlete is serious about football. Last year, he led the Tigers in tackles, fumbles and recoveries. Not surprisingly, he's already being recruited to play in college.
"I love football so much," he said.
But Rhondell also has his priorities in order.
"I think sports is like a privilege, so if you are not taking care of your academics, then you should be taken away of your privilege of playing sports," he said.
Several years ago, this wasn’t the case, when many student athletes in the city were taken off the field because of poor grades.
So why is Rhondell different?
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When he's not at practice, you can find him in what's called the Tiger Zone -- a classroom-like area in school where he can do his homework and receive tutoring. Here, Rhondell and other student-athletes have access to computers and the assistance of a mentor, known as a Zone Facilitator.
"I got into the Zone freshman year. I did it because I was struggling a little bit during football season in my academics, so I decided to come to the Zone and try to get help," Rhondell said.
And it worked.
"I got honor roll twice or three times freshman year," he said.
"It's not just a study hall that they are assigned to. They are here because they want to be here. They're here because they believe in BSA and achieving greater for themselves academically," Zone Facilitatory Ali Dumais said.
Boston Scholar Athletes, or BSA, was born four years ago and now it operates 19 "zones," as they're called, in 19 Boston public high schools, which any athlete can attend.
Rebekah Splaine Salwasser is BSA's executive director. She says every Zone is different.
"Every Zone has their own kind of spirit and vibe. Some are big and some are small," she said.
Salwasser says the metrics track high school graduation.
"For Boston Public Schools right now, it's teetering around 68 percent. Our program, we're very proud to say we have a 93 percent graduation rate for students in our program," she said.
In addition, 84 percent of eligible BSA students were accepted to college last year.
But Salwasser admits there's still work to be done, since the average GPA of a BSA student falls around 2.46. So now they're offering camp scholarships during the summer as an incentive to drive a student's academic performance during the school year.
"So we say 'Latoyia, if you get a 3.5 GPA, you can go to a soccer clinic,'" Salwasser explained.
Those incentives may be paying off. At East Boston High School, first-year Zone member Emely Herrera increased her GPA when she joined.
"Here in the Zone I have time to do my homework," she said.
"Our students athletes have shown that their GPA's have consistently gotten better," Dave Arinells, a Zone Facilitator, said.
BSA's long term goal is to graduate athletes with a post-secondary plan. Rhondell Teesdale says he wants to major in sports medicine and become a physician..
Back at the track meet, unfortunately, he also understands anything can happen in sports.
"I get injured, I need something to fall back on, so I need to make sure that my academics is on point," he said.
A motto of not just an athlete, but a true scholar-athlete.
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