Local entrepreneurs partner for kids' academic success

When local entrepreneur Tina Wiles opened her tutoring/test prep business several years ago, she wanted high school students to achieve their best. A former Motorola engineer turned math teacher, she knew a thing or two about preparation and strategy. What she didn't realize was how "mindset" would influence her work at My2tor.

Local entrepreneur Schin Kerr knows a lot about achievement mindset. A former athlete for the Loyola University Ramblers and Denver Nuggets, Kerr created the Bolingbrook-based nonprofit Brook Town Force to provide youth sports and education programs.

When a mutual friend introduced Wiles and Kerr, they immediately recognized a shared vision.

"Many don't realize the similarities of training for academic testing and training for sports," Wiles says. "Skills and practice are important, but mindset is crucial."

Like Wiles, Kerr recognizes young athletes need goal setting and mindset training for scholastic achievement as much as athletics. In fact, he's built his nonprofit around the idea. But Kerr also knows the competitive field of college athletics.

"If your goal is to play college sports," Kerr says, "You need to take your academics to the next level, too. Universities want athletes with strong academic records."

Now these two entrepreneurs have joined teams to help young students and athletes achieve their college goals.

Wiles' Naperville-based My2tor Center will provide parents and students of Kerr's Brook Town Force program with the information, practice and mindset training to get their academics - as well as their game - to the next level.

"I'm always excited to work with student athletes," Wiles says. "They get it when I ask them to transfer the ritual approach they take for a foul shot, for example, and apply it to test days."

Both Wiles and Kerr agree improvement in both areas takes practice, skill building and focus. But once students make the connection, they're often shocked at how their scores and grades improve.

Whether it's on a math test or basketball court, when confidence rises, so do scores. Together, Wiles and Kerr hope their collaboration makes both a slam dunk.