By Dave Johnson
William & Mary Athletics
All his life,
Brandon Battle has shown a knack for helping kids. Even when he was one.
"In the fifth grade, I was in a mentorship program where we were paired with either kindergartners or first-graders," said Battle, who last fall completed his football career at William & Mary. "I would go into their classroom and offer any assistance I could.
"I've worked different summer camps. My fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, has a mentoring partnership with Berkeley Middle School right next to campus. I've always been involved with different mentorship programs."
So don't be surprised if Battle, who played quarterback and wide receiver for the Tribe, becomes a teacher one day. He graduated last spring with a degree in kinesiology. On Saturday, he'll receive his Master of Arts in Education with a concentration in elementary education.
Wherever he applies, Battle can count on a glowing recommendation from Carrie Dolan, an assistant professor in W&M's department of health sciences.
Dolan first came to know Battle in the classroom when he was an undergrad. And since schools closed in March due to the coronavirus outbreak, Battle has been tutoring Dolan's third-grade son, Carter, online in reading comprehension and math.
Because Dolan's training is in epidemiology, which studies the distribution of diseases, her workload has been particularly full of late. So Battle works with Carter twice a week on Zoom.
"I can keep the ball rolling, but Brandon is really teaching all the new material," Dolan said. "It's been a game-changer for our family to have somebody who is trained to teach multiplication and division. Brandon has those pedagogical skills to teach Carter the new content in a way that makes sense.
"Out of this, I'm going to be incredibly proud that a William & Mary football player taught my son how to multiply
. And this week, Brandon's teaching him how to divide. Carter also has a role model as an athlete who is focused on the importance of education."
Battle did some student teaching at Stonehouse Elementary last fall and was just starting his full-time work when in-person classes were canceled in March. To help make up the hours, W&M devised a virtual tutoring program with James River Elementary, which Carter Dolan attends.
Carrie Dolan immediately reached to see if Battle would be interested in tutoring Carter. He eagerly accepted and picked up another student from James River.
"Brandon's also juggling finishing up his own classes and being at home, the same things other people are," Carrie Dolan said. "His willingness to do this for our family is really something special."
Dolan praised Battle's ability to adjust to a different way of teaching. For that, she believes his experiences as a college athlete were beneficial.
Battle was a reserve quarterback for the Tribe until his senior year, when he was asked to switch to wide receiver. He did so without complaints and caught a 39-yard pass in the season's second game against Virginia.
"He was a selfless leader and did all we asked of him," W&M coach
Mike London said. "In particular, he represented the program in a first-class manner. He's the type of young man I want the program to be synonymous with."
On Saturday, Battle will participate in a virtual graduation ceremony from his home in Charles County, Md. One chapter will end, and another will begin.
With so few African-American males teaching — only 2 percent in public schools, according to a 2016 U.S. Department of Education study — Battle knows he wants to be involved. It's the specifics he hasn't figured out yet.
"I haven't applied anywhere yet," Battle said. "I definitely want to do something in education.
"I don't know right now, at this point in time, that I want to go into full-time teaching right away. I'm just using the time at home to figure everything out."
