Bronx students recently had the pleasure of virtually meeting a Harlem Globetrotter.
Classical Charter Schools, which has four locations in the south Bronx, hosted Harlem Globetrotter and Amazing Race contestant Herbert “Flight Time” Lang last week as part of a remote learning series featuring prominent figures in sports, politics, media and more.
Flight Time has appeared not just on the “Amazing Race,” but also on popular TV shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The Bachelorette,” “The Price is Right” and “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” A world-class basketball ball-handler and dribbler, Lang spoke to a fifth grade class of more than 20 students about the importance of goal-setting. The full session can be viewed here.
“As we come together as an educational community during the pandemic, we’re looking for creative ways to keep attendance high and engage our students in innovative ways,” said Lester Long, executive director of Classical Charter Schools. “It was such a pleasure to have Flight Time impart his wisdom and experience onto our scholars. Through new initiatives like this one, Classical Charter Schools continue to help our students and families through this pandemic with novel lessons and guest speakers.”
As part of the lesson “Flight Time” emphasized the following:
- Overcoming challenges. As a young aspiring professional athlete, Lang learned to work around his height before hitting his growth spurt. “While I was small I was working hard. I was working toward the bigger picture of where I wanted to be, which was at least to go college.”
- Exceeding personal goals. Lang’s original intent for developing his basketball skills was to secure a college scholarship, but through hard work and dedication he emerged as a world-renowned professional athlete. “My dream was never to become a professional athlete, but my dream became beyond true to become a member of the Harlem Globetrotters for 18 years and have a chance to travel to 90 different countries around the world.”
