Figuring out your purpose in life is important but not everybody can do that automatically. Sometimes, it takes certain events to guide you down a path or even how you were raised could be influential on what you want to do to help others. Finding a way to become selfless in this life is hard but Christopher Logan is a prime example of figuring out how to help the people and kids in his community as well as be a leader.
Her Campus (HC): Mr. Logan, can you tell me about yourself?
Christopher Logan (CL): I am from Tampa, raised in Ybor City and I am 52 years old. I have been married three times. My first wife passed away, my second ended in divorce and now I have married again, coming up on five years in May. I have an associate in Psychology and I am working on my B.A. I have been working with kids for over 25 years. I believe that every child deserves a chance to succeed, we just must be willing to help supply the tools.
HC: I am sorry for your loss. What does being the President of the Progress Village Panthers entail? Who do you work with?
CL: My job as president of the Panthers is to maintain the overall function of the organization. I make sure we keep our integrity as board members and bridge a healthy and happy relationship with parents and kids. I make sure each department is fulfilling its responsibilities. I work with the county on rentals and the upkeep of the field as well. I work with the president of the league, the board members of our organization, rec center, the civic county and some of the surrounding schools.
HC: Can you tell me about the educational program that is incorporated with the Progress Village Panthers football and cheer program?
CL:The panther’s education program is called the Progress Village Educational Imitative. It embodies the total student-athlete: meaning you must become a student first. What we did this year is to incorporate progress reports then we added an essay contest for each level; whoever wrote the best essay received a gift card. We had a tutoring session for an hour or more if needed. We research certain people and challenge them. For the girls, we had vision boards and we set up a women forum for them to ask questions. We had guest speakers like an ex NFL player, Pastors, businessmen, a young millionaire came in as well. We tried to get all walks of life to come in and speak.
HC: Do you think you are being an effective leader and making a great impact? How much progress has been made for PVP?
CL: I believe over the years as a coach, I have made an impact on a smaller scale with kids. And not to diminish the success I have had with some of the kids, but they have gone on to succeed in life. The progress we have made over the last few years has been great. We got a seat on the Civic Council, we started a community Easter egg hunt, we have been a part of the annual back to school bash held in the community, we have soccer and track at our field, we march in the MLK parade and the schools are willing to talk to us now.
HC: That is such wonderful news! Do you work independently with the kids? Do you want to grow in this field per se?
CL: I have worked independently with kids in the past, some getting them to stop hanging in the streets, some for school-related issues, some had home issues. I would say I hope I have positively influenced their lives. I just recently in the last few years took on a kid that had a lot of anger issues. It affected his grades, how he was treated in school and it made it difficult for him. Once I got permission from his parents, I showed him how to channel his anger positively. How to put the work in at school and at home to improve his grades. The goal for me is to make the job easier for the next president. I want them to be able to step in and keep climbing and make the Panthers greater than what it is now. The goal is to also have a mentoring program to help kids that are struggling with the next phase of their lives. I used to always tell people when they ask me why I do what I do, and I would tell them I am trying to save one kid at a time.
HC: What are some tips you can give others who want to be leaders or affect the lives of student-athletes?
CL: Being a leader is about, not only leading, but convincing people to follow you. Seeing your vision and helping make that vision grow as well as the people. Hold people accountable once they accept responsibilities for a task or duties assigned to them. Make the hard choices but be consistent with those choices. Always be assessable, approachable. For a person who wants to help a student-athlete: remember what is important, the student first. Make sure your heart is in what you do, if not kids will not respond to you. Convince the parents to help you. Just have fun.
All photos are courtesy of Christopher Logan.
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