By Mollie Halpern
Investigative Reporter
Published: February 18, 2009

Education encouragement, that’s how you could describe a new program announced today by Roanoke’s vice mayor… Sherman Lea.
He wants to help improve Roanoke city’s graduation rate.
As we’ve reported, city schools aren’t quite making the grade when it comes to students earning a diploma.
The rate for the class of 2008 was 58-point-7 percent.
In 2007 it was 57-percent.
Superintendent Dr. Rita Bishop has said she’s confident the rate will grow to 60-percent this year.
Stephon Anderson wears number 22 on the hardwood….
But he wants to be number 1…see, the William Fleming High School senior has plans to be the first member of his immediate family to graduate from college.
“I want to be an architect, says Anderson.
An initiative called “Getting African-American Males Educated’—or ‘game’—could help Anderson and other Roanoke city students achieve their educational goals.
It works like this: students fill out the ‘Common Black College Application’—which enables them to apply free of charge to 33 traditionally black colleges at the same time.
In exchange, they get to go to a Washington Wizards game.
Robert Mason, who grew up in public housing in Roanoke, is bringing the ‘GAME’ initiative to his hometown.
He says education is what helped make him successful.
“I owe it to the kids of Roanoke, to the kids in that Lincoln Terrace project to bring this initiative here .“
Vice Mayor Sherman Lea says the initiative is more than just a NBA experience.
He says it can help reverse the dropout rate among black males.
“We don’t need to stop because we’re in a budge crunch education must move on”, says Lea.
Mason agrees—he says GAME has helped thousands of kids in other cities..
“He becomes so much more engaged in the entire academic process, we’ve seen grades changes, we’ve seen attendance patterns change,“ says Mason.
‘GAME’: an initiative that can help make winners—both off and on the court.
In order to be selected for the ‘GAME’ initiative, students must write an essay.
About 10 students will go to a wizards game in mid-March.
Vice mayor Lea says he is looking for financial backing for the program from local businesses and organizations.