Spotlight on ASAP Scrabble Club Leader

John Green

When John Green isn’t snapping photos of devoted fans at Phillies, Sixers and Flyers games, he can be found coaching Scrabble to elementary school students at Queen Memorial Library and the Youth Study Center each week. By night, John is an official photographer for Fan Photo at sporting events, but by day, he competes in regional Scrabble tournaments and leads two Philly Plays Scrabble clubs for ASAP.

As a lifelong resident of South Philly, John knows first hand the difficult situations that youth in Philadelphia face on a regular basis. John spent several years in jail during his youth, but has since turned his life around and is determined to give back to his community. He hopes to prevent young people from making bad decisions. Through coaching Scrabble he serves as a wonderful role model to students in South Philadelphia and at the Youth Study Center, where juveniles await trial and attend school.

John learned to play Scrabble while he was in jail, and he quickly fell in love with the game since it would always “keep [his] mind flowing.” John now plays in professional Scrabble tournaments all over the United States and has traveled as far as Florida for a competition. With Scrabble having such a positive impact in his own life, John is now bringing the literary and academic benefits of Scrabble to students of all ages through his position as a Scrabble club leader with ASAP. John coaches up to 20 students in a Scrabble club, and the students who arrive are always eager to play and learn with John.

John explained how proud he was to have seen one of his students go on to participate in an ASAP Scrabble tournament, in which she did very well competing against adults. But he always sees success is the decisions his students make about peer pressure.

“When one popular kid doesn’t want to play Scrabble, then other kids won’t want to either. But I tell everyone to be leaders, not followers. I always get them playing.” Whether it’s the decision to play a game of Scrabble, or the decision to stay away from drugs and alcohol, John is actively providing students with positive options and teaching them to be leaders.