Morgan`s Treasure…The Tale of McDonald
My name is Morgan McDonald a year ago, I founded The Lucy Laney Boxing Academy.
I’m being the person I needed as a kid. I grew up in Chicago as a inner city kid, and I was blessed with mentors when I needed them through sports like basketball, football and boxing. With this foundation I have dedicated my time and energy to do the same thing for my own kids as well as the kids in my community.
We are The Lucy Laney Boxing Academy, a school- and community-based boxing academy centered around family, love, and positive energy.
We have created a positive atmosphere for kids and families that they usually don’t get. We do not charge any fees and we are open five days a week but we are working on obtaining weekend access.
We are the first and only boxing gym housed within any Minneapolis public school. What started as a behavior management strategy—a boxing bag in the back of my office for kids to release stress—has become a fully functioning gym including a boxing class as part of our after school program.
Boxing is an incredibly unique sport in that it takes full mental and physical dedication. Our kids are developing this focus and determination at a rapid rate.
We can see their confidence and feeling of belonging growing. Some of our kids come from very challenging situations and home lives, so boxing has been an incredible tool to keep them happy, safe, motivated and supported.
We feel honored to be doing this work and are so inspired to keep growing this community. Just this week we had two new families bringing their sons in to workout. Parents stayed around to watch and encourage their kids. The connecting they do in the gym is priceless.
Lucy Laney Boxing Academy is all about lifting each other up. We aim to unite Minnesota boxing gyms so that we are all helping as many kids as possible get active while also tapping into their social emotional needs. We hope to foster a sense of belonging, camaraderie and leadership.
We want to show our kids many cities and gyms so they are not limited by what they have seen so far. Before boxing a lot of our athletes had not left the state. We have traveled to a lot of cities in the Midwest and this spring we will be taking a trip all the way to Montgomery Alabama to bring our boxers to the The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Muhammad Ali Center in Kentucky.
Along the way we will also visit historic slave sites and various boxing gyms. It’s all about confidence and connection. My motto is Experience is Everything 😎
I am beyond honored to be hearing from you and am so proud of what we have begun at Lucy Laney Boxing Academy. Thank you so much.
This summer I helped out the Ywca as well
This year I’ve gotten
EDUCATOR SPOTLIGHT of the year
https://mynorthnews.org/new-blog/2019/5/8/a-year-of-educator-spotlights
Minneapolis educator Leadership award
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